Finding Allies
by Lina Lupin
Summary: Sirius Black is not as dead as his cousin Bellatrix would like him to be. Now he is coming back, and he's bringing some new friends with him. A little bit of romance and lots of magic!
1. The Fall

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Disclaimer: The characters that look familiar to you belong to J. K. Rowling. The ones you cannot find in any of her books are mine. I don't intend to make any money out of this. I'm just having some fun.

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The Fall

Falling. That was the first thing Sirius Black remembered when he opened his eyes. He had been falling. For how long? He didn't know. His cousin Bellatrix had hit him with a spell he didn't know, probably one of Voldemort's horrid inventions, and then he had fell through the veil that separated the dead from the leaving, and everything had bone black, blacker than anything he had ever seen before, blacker even than his nightmares while in Azkaban, blacker than his greatest fears while alive. He had been falling for what felt like an eternity, enveloped in an absolute darkness that almost hurt his eyes, all the while thinking of his stupidity for relaxing his concentration to laugh at Bella. That had been indeed a big mistake. And now he was dead. Or wasn't he? He wasn't really sure about it, but he knew one thing: if this was death, then it wasn't at all what he had expected. Nothingness, yes. Hell, yes. Heaven, with James and Lily, yes. But this?

He was laying sprawled somewhere. He looked around, and in the darkness he could feel there were different hues of black. There seemed to be a black surface of some kind under his body, and then, all around him, a much greater darkness. He tried to move, but he realised that he was kind of stuck to the thing under his body. Only his head was able to move, but his arms and legs were certainly trapped somewhere. He turned to look again under himself, and he realised with a shock that the thing that had stopped his falling was turning less and less black by the minute. Now he could see that it wasn't a smooth surface, but rather a series of intertwined threads, like a spider's web. Suddenly he panicked. Surely this couldn't be real, right? Surely there couldn't be monsters in this abyss? Surely there couldn't be something worse than even death itself? He looked around once more, trying to see if there was something moving, maybe a giant spider o something worse, but it seemed he was alone.

The web under him still was changing colour. He looked at it: it was violet. He looked again: it was blue. He went on looking: it was green. And still he looked: it was yellow. And he looked and looked: it was orange. And he looked once more: it was red. It was as if he was on top of a rainbow, the threads changing smoothly from one colour to the next. After a while, the thing supporting him, started to vibrate, it was as if the thing was alive and, right now, shivering. Sirius tried to calm himself. At least things were changing, which meant he wasn't going to spend eternity like that. Or at least he hoped not. And then, suddenly, with a thunderous blast, the web turned white and started to radiate light all around, lighting the darkness that had engulfed Sirius. An ethereal sound filled Sirius head. It was like a chorus of phoenixes singing, like the gentle music of a river's water rushing to the sea, and Sirius felt happy, happier than he had ever been in his life, so happy that he had to cry like a new born child, and when he did, the light and the web disappeared, and the dead wizard found himself still sprawled, not on top of the web though, but on the floor of a room he had never seen before, in front of the most beautiful woman he had ever seen in his life.

Sandrine didn't know what to do. She had been already asleep, or so she thought, when the dream had started. HER! She hadn't seen her for a very long time. How long had it been anyway? Twelve? Thirteen years? She wasn't sure anymore. Fifteen. Fifteen years had gone by. But she knew she would remember that face for the rest of her life. That had been the woman who had tortured Neville's parents till insanity while she was hidden in a wardrobe with the baby in her arms. Trying to block the screams of Alice and Frank from the baby's ears and keeping him quite all of the time. Trying not to see through the keyhole of the wardrobe what was going on outside, but still being unable to stop herself from looking. And finally, when the bitch had got bored of hearing her victims scream and had realised she wouldn't get anything useful out of them, they had gone. But before leaving, thinking they were alone, the Death Eaters had taken their masks off, and then Sandrine had seen their faces. She didn't care about the men, they had just enjoyed the show. But the woman had been the one to hurt her sister's friends, and she knew that, whatever it took her, one day, she would make that woman pay for what she had done.

But Sandrine wasn't a vengeful person. It wasn't in her nature. So when the Death Eaters that had tortured the Longbottoms were sent to Azkaban, she tried to forget about them and move on with her life. After all, she had been only thirteen then, and her people had had enough troubles of their own back then. Still, she felt that she needed to do two things: first, protect Neville, and second, make sure that, just in the unlikely case that Bellatrix Lestrange was freed some day, nobody would suffer the destiny of the Longbottoms or even worse, get killed by that woman. So when she became and adult by her people's laws and thus was able to use her powers freely, she asked for the honour of becoming Neville's _Shava_ and had performed the ritual to protect Bellatrix's enemies from insanity or death. Much as she would have liked to just nullify Bellatrix's magic, that was something she couldn't do. Well, probably not even the Princesses of the Three Kingdoms could. So she contented herself with doing what she could.

That had been thirteen years ago, and now a man was lying on her bedroom's floor, and she knew who he was, although she had never met him before. She knew just what had happened, because in her dream she had seen Bellatrix making him fall through the veil, and had seen him reach her web, the web she had carefully sewn all those years ago to stop the final fall of the dead without really thinking it possible that it would be put to use one day. And now here he was, alive again, bound to her for eternity, and probably needing some explanations. So she tried to relax, smiled at the nonplussed wizard reassuringly, and said:

"Welcome back to life, Mr. Black. Would you like some coffee?"


	2. The ashanriis

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Disclaimer: The characters that look familiar to you belong to J. K. Rowling. The ones you cannot find in any of her books are mine. I don't intend to make any money out of this. I'm just having some fun.

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The ashanriis

Sirius Black was absolutely speechless. And even if he had been able to utter a sound, what could he have said? "Yes, please, no sugar"? Anyway, he wouldn't have had the time, because just then the door of the room opened with a bang, and two more women appeared there, one carrying a very big umbrella, the other, a pair of scissors.

"Sandrine, what's wrong? Are you OK?" The shorter one demanded, looking from Sirius to her friend and back to Sirius, a pair of scissors in her right hand, though it was obvious she wasn't a very dangerous opponent, since she was trembling like mad.

"It's OK, girls. This man just fell on my web. You know... THE WEB."

"Ooooooh!" Both women said at the same time.

"Wait a minute," said the one carrying the umbrella, "do you mean that it worked? You brought someone back from the dead?"

Sandrine shrugged and looked at her friends as a child caught doing something wrong by its parents.

"Well, so it seems." And then offered them an apologetic small smile.

The other women looked at each other, and then the one carrying the umbrella just let it fall to the floor with a clatter and, without even a second look at Sirius, said:

"Oh, for all the Princesses! I need some coffee."

She left the room, and then the girl with the scissors just laid them on a stand next to the door, smiled shyly at Sirius and left after her. The third girl had got out of the bed, and was now next to Sirius. She offered him her hand to help him get back on his feet, and then just guided him out of the room, through a very muggle-looking corridor and into a very modern muggle-looking kitchen, where the other two women were already busy preparing coffee and some biscuits. The woman still holding Sirius' hand let go of it and offered him a chair, which he took gratefully, still unable to speak or to simply get over the shock. He just looked at the three women and studied them for a while. The first one, the one the others had called Sandrine, was a breathtakingly beautiful woman, with blonde long hair, green warm eyes and a very kind face. The second one, the one who had been carrying the scissors, was a bit plump and shorter, very beautiful too, although her green long curls and crystalline eyes were kind of disturbing. The third one, the one who had needed the coffee, was the tallest of the three, although still quite shorter than Sirius himself. She had long chestnut hair and very clear blue eyes. Sirius didn't know why, but he had the feeling she was probably the older of the three, and probably the owner of the house where they were now, since she moved around the kitchen with obvious ease. The voice of the green-haired girl interrupted his musings:

"Would you rather have some tea, Mr...."

"Black," Sandrine ended, "his name is Sirius Black."

"How..." Sirius finally uttered, but then stopped, because he didn't know where to start. How did she know her name? How had he got there? How was it possible that he felt so alive when he was sure he had been in the realm of death a few moments ago?

The women were looking at him expectantly, so he finally settled for something easy to say:

"Tea, please."

Sandrine and her friend smiled at him, as if congratulating him on his achievement. He had finally been able to say two words together. Wow!

"Milk? Sugar?" The green-haired girl demanded.

"No, thank you," he answered, with a little more fluidity this time. He reached for the cup offered to him and drank the hot liquid. It had and instant effect on him. He felt suddenly much, much better, and let out a breath he didn't know he had been holding.

Now the three women were seated around him, their gazes directed at him. The blonde and the brown-haired girls were drinking coffee, the green-haired girl, seated in front of him, was drinking tea. Emboldened by the cup of tea in his hands and their beautiful faces, finally Sirius summoned his Gryffindor courage and started speaking:

"Ok. So... I have many questions and don't know where to begin, so I think I will just start by telling you who I am, although you seem to know," at this, Sandrine nodded, "and what is the last thing I remember."

"Oh, well, he talks! I was starting to think the time in the abyss had affected his brain," the brown-haired girl said, not without a certain amount of sarcasm.

Sandrine kicked her under the table and scowled at her. But Sirius didn't really care. He wasn't in the mood for sarcastic remarks now, so he just started explaining all about his fall through the veil, his fight with Bellatrix, how and why he had got to the Department of Mysteries in the first place, how he had been in Azkaban for a crime he didn't commit, and everything that came to his mind, which was really a lot, taking into account the circumstances. All through his explanations, the women remained silent but obviously hanging on his every word. It wasn't every day that a man appeared in their home in the middle of the night and out of nowhere, and furthermore, this wasn't even a typical man. When Sirius finally finished talking, they were all already on their second cup and had even eaten some delicious biscuits. Then Sandrine told the other three what she knew had happened, about her dream, and how Sirius' life had been spared thanks to her enmity with Bellatrix Lestrange. And then, it seemed, was the time for a round of questions and answers.

"So, Bellatrix is out of Azkaban?" The brown-haired witch asked first.

"So it seems," Sandrine replied with a sigh.

"She definitely is," Sirius added, "and it doesn't look as if the time spent there has diminished her magical powers in the least. Some time ago some death eaters escaped from Azkaban, probably with Voldemort's help. She was among them."

They all remained silent for a bit, pondering this information, and then Sirius finally knew where to start:

"So, if I may ask. Who are you and how come you're powerful enough to bring someone dead back to life. Where are we and am I really alive? I mean, could I leave now and go back to Hogwarts or wherever I want and see my friends and talk to them, and do magic, and..."

"Ok, ok," Sandrine said half laughing, "let us answer those questions first, and then you can ask us some more and we'll try to tell you everything you want to know. Sirius just nodded, so she went on:

"My name is Sandrine Aires, this is Amanda Ming," and she pointed at the brown-haired woman, "and this is Sha-adi Ming," she pointed at the green-haired girl this time. "We are ashanriis, you know, fairies with human appearance. I don't know if you're familiar with our kind, because the ashanriis really don't like much mixing with wizards and witches, so many of them don't even know that we exist."

Sirius had indeed heard of the ashanriis, beautiful women that knew how to control the fury of the sea, the strength of the air and the power of the fire, beings with such a magical power that, so the legends said, one of them could fight against ten very powerful wizards and witches and defeat them easily without even lifting a finger. But like most wizards and witches, he had thought they were a legend, that they weren't real.

"We're not really typical ashanriis, you know," Sandrine continued. "For different reasons, but basically because of disagreements with our kind, all of us left the community years ago, and now we live as muggles. Not that that's a very strange thing, as most ashanriis live as muggles anyway, but they still keep in contact with the rest of the community and take part in meetings and all kind of events. Still, well, usually we don't use magic. We live as real muggles do."

Sirius didn't know what to say. He was really surprised that someone who had that magical power would rather live as a muggle, so he wondered what these disagreements had been, though he didn't dare to ask. Anyway, Sandrine had changed the subject and turned to more immediate matters, like Sirius' situation.

"The reason I could rescue you from the dead, as I told you before, is because of this ritual I performed thirteen years ago. But no, it's not a common thing. Ashanriis usually stay out of the way of wizards and witches and definitely don't change the fate of anyone. Everybody has to die some day, and if we were to interfere, then the world wouldn't be enough to hold all of us. We die too, of course, immortality is not very appealing to us. We think that one life entails enough suffering and trouble, so we really prefer being spirits for eternity."

At Sirius shocked expression, she smiled, and then explained further:

"Yes, we exist as spirits, in the water, in the fire, in the wind, in the trees... even in the stars! Nature is composed of ashanriis spirits, that's our destiny in the end, and so life for us is not that important. It's just the way to get to our real and final destiny. And then, of course, there's a certain drawback to bringing someone back from the dead: a link for life is created between the saved being and the saviour, which could certainly be very annoying, depending on how well the both of them get on with each other. So... I hope we're gonna be good friends, Mr. Black."

At this she smiled at Sirius, while the poor wizard could only stare.

"We are bounded to each other for life?"

"Yes," she said, and smiled again at him, a little bit apologetically, as if being bonded to her for life could be worse than being dead.

Sirius looked around the table. Amanda and Sha-adi were also smiling at him, Sha-adi in a very kind and reassuring way, Amanda with a hint of humour in her lips.

"Well..." Sirius started. "Well, thank you, then. I mean, thank you anyway, but, well, thank you."

Amanda laughed heartily at Sirius chaotic words, obviously ignoring Sha-adi's and Sandrine's angry looks, and then raised and said:

"Well, it's almost daybreak now, and much as I'm enjoying this, I'm afraid I must start getting ready for work, and so should you both, girls."

At this, Sandrine and Sha-adi only sighed. After the excitement of the night events, they weren't feeling much like going to work, but Amanda was right, they really had to, so they'd better go and have a shower. Sirius just didn't want them to leave yet. He still had so many questions. The women realised this, and so Sandrine said:

"Amanda is right, we really should be going. I'm sure you still have many questions, though. Just so that you can relax a bit, let me tell you that yes, you can go on with your life as usual, your friends and enemies alike can see you, you can use magic, and everything will basically be the same as always, with the only small difference of us being magically bounded, but that isn't really that important. I mean, it won't interfere with your live at all. You'll probably feel if I'm in danger and I'll feel it when you are. And then we could communicate in the ashanrii way, which is similar to telepathy, but not quite... And maybe a few things more, but nothing really drastically different. We can talk it over in the evening, when I come back from work. Now it would be better if you just took a hot bath and went to sleep. Amanda can give you something that will make you sleep through the day, and at dinner we can talk over how you're gonna go back to your home and how we're gonna tell your friends that you are still alive, because I'm sure they're gonna be a little bit shocked at first."

"You bet," Sirius said, smiling at the thought of Remus shocked expression if he just apparated in his flat. In fact, that could be funny... But then he shook himself, and turned serious again. After all, Merlin knew how good Moony's reflexes were, and he didn't want to depend on Sandrine bringing him back from the dead again.

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Thanks for the reviews!

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shadowycat: Hi! Thanks for reading. I was very surprised to get your review, because I wasn't even sure if my story was up yet. I'm glad you liked this chapter. If you could tell me where were the rough spots, I'd love to correct them. If you don't have the time, it's OK, forget about it. I hope my grammar will improve with practice. ;-) And I'm glad you like Sandrine, because we're gonna see a lot of her and her friends in this story. As you see, she is definitely very much alive. The story of the ashanriis is very complex, but I'll try to explain some more about them in the next chapters.

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Kady Rilla Wholi: Thanks a lot for your review. I can assure you that Bellatrix is not going to like this story at all, but I'm afraid she won't appear in it for some time yet. I hope you are not disappointed about that. You know, although my name is Lupin I belong to Slytherin, so I'm gonna take may time before killing her. I want her to suffer a bit first... :D


	3. Family

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Disclaimer: The characters that look familiar to you belong to J. K. Rowling. The ones you cannot find in any of her books are mine. I don't intend to make any money out of this. I'm just having some fun.

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Family

Riiiiiing, riiiiiiing......

The sound of a telephone ringing woke Sirius up. He just laid in bed a little bit longer, his eyes closed. He was glad to be awake, because he had been having a very weird dream in which he had been killed by his cousin Bellatrix and then had been brought back to life by an ashanrii. He definitely had to talk to Albus. The inactivity was driving him mad.

The wizard opened his eyes and blinked, getting used to the light coming in from the window. And then looked around, and realised that he didn't know where he was. A sudden thought made him start to sweat: the dream hadn't been a dream at all! He HAD been killed. And now, he was alive again. And indeed he was, because at that moment his stomach decided to growl a bit, requesting his attention.

He got out of bed and opened the door to the room. He came to a corridor that looked familiar. From the doorway, he could hear a voice whispering something from somewhere to the left, so he just followed the sound. One of the girls from the previous night was standing in the far corner of a comfortable-looking sitting-room, talking on the telephone. Amanda. Sirius wasn't very happy about that. Of the three girls he had met a few hours ago, Amanda had been the one he had liked the least. He stood there, waiting for her to finish talking and realising he was there. He didn't have to wait long. Amanda hung the telephone, a worried look on her face, and then looked up and saw him.

"Good morning!" she said. "Or maybe I should say 'good evening'. It's almost six."

"Did I sleep for so long?"

"Yes, you did. The pills I gave you were supposed to make you sleep, and then I'm sure your body needed a rest after all the things you put it through yesterday."

"Not that I did it on purpose," Sirius almost growled, a little bit offended at the girl's words. Merlin knew he would have avoided all of this if he could have.

"Ok, ok!" Amanda said, raising her hands as if in surrender. "Didn't mean to anger you. I see you don't appreciate much my sense of humour, so I think I'll quit for now. Maybe we should start anew."

And then she approached him and offered him her hand.

"Hi! I'm Amanda. Pleased to meet you."

Sirius smiled, shook her hand politely and even bowed a bit, making Amanda laugh.

"Hi! I'm Sirius. The pleasure is mine."

Amanda smiled again, and Sirius felt he could watch that smile for hours and never get tired of it. The night before, he had been more impressed by Sandrine's exuberant beauty, but now he realised that Amanda was probably even more beautiful, though in a subtle way. She took him by the arm and guided him to the kitchen were they had been talking the previous night. A man was there, with his back to the door. When they entered, he turned around and smiled.

"Hi! You must be Sirius Black."

Sirius shook his offered hand, and then turned to Amanda as she spoke:

"This is Edvard Bergen. He's Sandrine's cousin. He lives with us too. We haven't been able yet to find a woman silly enough to take him."

"Thanks very much, Mandy. Nice girl, always has a kind word for everyone," Edvard said looking at Sirius, but he was smiling, which meant he didn't feel offended at all, and so Sirius felt that this was probably a regular joke between them.

"I was cooking some dinner. Lasagne. I hope you like it." Edvard added.

"I do, thanks." Sirius said.

"Well, I'm sorry to have to leave the company of such attractive men and specially to miss your lasagne, Ed, but I'm afraid I must go," Amanda announced, and turned to leave the kitchen.

"What? But you just came back from work! Is something the matter?" Edvard asked.

Amanda was already in the sitting-room, getting her bag and preparing to leave.

"I'm afraid so. Nothing to worry. I won't probably be back until tomorrow, though."

"But you didn't even eat! Take something with you. Maybe just a sandwich or something."

"It's ok. I'll have something on the way."

Edvard didn't look too convinced that she would, but didn't say a thing anyway. He knew Amanda far too well, work was always the most important thing to her. More even than food. She opened the door and then turned and said:

"I'll see you tomorrow, Sirius. Try to rest a bit more tonight."

"Oh, I don't know..." Sirius said thoughtfully. "Maybe I'll be gone when you come back..."

"Oh, no, you won't." Amanda said, with her hand already in the door knob. "I'm taking you back to Hogwarts, so you'll have to wait for me."

"What? But I can go on my own, can't I?"

Amanda laughed at Sirius surprised face.

"Yes, you could. But in these dark days I doubt very much that even Albus Dumbledore himself will welcome you unless you have a very clear proof that you are who you say you are. And as everybody thinks you are dead... Well, we thought you might need someone to take you there. Just to make sure that you'll get the chance to explain everything before getting killed a second time. Sandrine isn't looking forward to rescuing you again. She says once in a lifetime is enough. Let's hope the Lestrange woman doesn't make her work much."

At this she laughed even more.

"But they don't know you, do they? Why would they listen to you?" Sirius felt a little annoyed at having to be escorted.

"Oh, they DO know me, don't worry about that."

"What?"

"The girls will explain everything to you at dinner, don't worry. I really must be going now. Bye!"

And she was gone before Sirius could say another word.

Sirius turned to Edvard, who was looking at him understandingly.

"I'm sorry, I'm afraid I don't know what they have planned. I just came home, so Amanda just had time enough to fill me in on your sudden appearance yesterday and to tell me that you would be sleeping in my room for a couple of days."

"Oh! That was your room?"

"Yes. But it's ok, I can sleep with Mich."

"Mich?"

"Yes. He's my cousin. Sandrine's brother. He lives here as well."

Sirius made himself comfortable at the kitchen table, and then asked:

"So, how many are you? I mean, how many people live here?"

"Oh, really quite a few," Edvard answered, and started lifting his fingers as he counted. "There's the girls: my cousin Sandrine, Amanda and Sha-adi. I think you've met them already. Then there's Mich and Morten, who is another cousin of mine -but on my father's side, so he's not related to Sandrine and Mich. And then there's Ben, Benjamin, he's Amanda's brother. Well, and Sha-adi's."

"Amanda and Sha-adi are..."

"Sisters? Well, kind of. Sha-adi was born a mermaid. Yes, don't look at me like that." Edvard laughed at Sirius shocked face. "I'm sure you noticed her hair and eyes. Although maybe you didn't, being worried about more important matters as you probably were at the time..."

"Well... I noticed her hair and her eyes," Sirius admitted thoughtfully, "but I didn't give them a second thought."

"Perfectly understandable. Well, she was a mermaid, and still is, of course. But she had the luck of being born in the shores of the Giant's Causeway, in Northern Ireland, and that's where the Ice Castle of the jilguereis is, as you may have heard before..."

Sirius looked as if Edvard was speaking Mermish instead of English, so Edvard decided he needed to add some more information.

"Ok. I'll start at the beginning, then. There are different castes, or kinds, of ashanriis. Each of them have different powers and skills, but there are only really three castes that are STRONG. The other ashanriis are more like very beautiful witches, but not really very different from magic people in general. Now, with these three castes it's different. They are the REAL ashanriis, so to say. Whenever the ashanriis have been in danger over the centuries, these three castes have been the ones to fight their enemies and defend the others. The jilguereis are the singing ashanriis. Their power is in their voices. When they sing, they can control you absolutely and there's nothing anybody can do to avoid it. They can make you love them, surrender your wand, put you to sleep, jump from a roof, kill someone else, even kill yourself... There's really no limit. Or at least, not one that I know of. Amanda is a jilguerei. She was born in the Crystal Castle, because her mother was a very important jilguerei and used to live in the court, protecting the Princess."

"The Princess?" Sirius interrupted.

"Oh, yes, I forgot. You probably don't know about the Princesses either." Edvard thought for a moment how to explain best about the Princesses. "You see, every caste has a Princess. The Princess is a kind of source of power. All the ashanriis take their power from their Princesses, and have to protect them as well, because the Princesses have a lot of power, but they cannot use it themselves. The ashanriis are a little bit like the bees or the ants. All of them work to keep the community alive, and then there is the queen bee, who takes care of the reproduction of the community. The ashanrii princesses don't need to reproduce themselves like bees, but they have to keep the magic alive inside of them. They're like a walking muggle bomb. They cannot activate themselves, but they could be very dangerous if they were to fall in the wrong hands. For instance, if they were to marry the wrong man, say Voldemort."

At this, Sirius arched his eyebrows, plainly surprised that Edvard would mention Voldemort and state so clearly that he was 'a wrong man'. But Edvard was busy with the lasagne and wasn't paying much attention to Sirius reaction, just telling the story of the ashanriis as if he was telling a tale to a child. So he went on:

"So the other ashanriis take their magic from the Princess, and because they depend on the Princess being alive and well protected, that's what they do, they take care of her as if she was their most precious weapon, because if the Princess of a caste died without having left a daughter to substitute her in her role, the ashanriis of that caste would loose their magical powers and become mere muggles."

At this point, Edvard made a pause to put the lasagne in the oven, but Sirius didn't say a thing, because his mind was busy analysing all this new information.

"So, as I was saying before, Amanda is a jilguerei. She was born in the Ice Castle and used to play on the Giant's Causeway shore. That's where she met Sha-adi. Amanda was an only child back then, her brother is 8 years her junior, and because there weren't many kids of her age at the Castle, she used to play alone on the beach. Now, as you probably know, merpeople don't have families."

"Oh, really?" Sirius was very surprised at this. "When I went to Hogwarts there was a very big community of merpeople living in the lake near the school, and some of them even had Grindylows as pets."

Edvard nodded at this.

"Well, there are probably some exceptions, but basically, when a mermaid child is born, it just depends on itself to live on, like a fish. The mother just goes on with her life as if instead of giving birth to a child she would have just coughed or sneezed. Nothing really life-shattering. Merpeople are usually very cold and independent beings, and they don't need to make friends or have loving relatives. But Sha-adi was different from the beginning. She had lived for four years on the rocks close to the Ice Castle, and had seen the ashanriis walking around with her daughters, taking care of them, loving them... She silently envied them. She wished she had a mother too."

Edvard went to the fridge and poured some wine for Sirius and himself. After tasting the delicious rosé, Sirius thanked Edvard and went on listening to his story.

"Then, one fine day, while she was staring bored at the horizon, Sha-adi heard a splash. A little girl had fallen into the water. She recognised her immediately, because she had seen her many times playing in the sand with her mother. The ashanriis usually live close to the water, in the shores of seas, lakes, rivers, fountains..., but curiously enough, only few of them can swim. This little girl, Amanda, didn't know how to swim and was drowning. Her mother didn't seem to be around at the time, so Sha-adi jumped into the water and rescued her. Although Amanda was already 10 years old by then and quite bigger than Sha-adi, that wasn't a problem, because merpeople are really strong in the water. Their age doesn't match either the age of a wizard. Again, they are more like fishes in this sense, and so, although only 4, Sha-adi's mind was that of an older child."

Edvard sipped some more wine and went on:

"When they got to the shore, Amanda's mother was already there and picked her daughter out of the water. After checking that she wasn't hurt, she turned to Sha-adi, smiled at her and caressed her cheek, and from that day on Sha-adi would come to the shore every day and Amanda and her mother would near the water and play with her. Little by little, she grew more confident, and started to get out of the water and change her fins for legs, but she still lived alone in the water most of the time. Then, after the Day of the Dortors, when Amanda's mother was killed and Amanda saved Princess Xanda, Sha-adi left with her, and they have lived as sisters since then. Amanda even insisted on Sha-adi using her mother's surname, Ming."

Edvard made another break in his story now to check the lasagne. He seemed satisfied, and then busied himself preparing some salad to go with it. Sirius then took the opportunity to make some questions:

"So Sha-adi isn't an ashanrii? And what about your cousin? Is she a jilguerei as well? And what was that day something you mentioned? The day of the doctors, of something like that. And you said that Amanda saved a Princess? How..."

"Ok, ok, give me a break," Edvard laughed. "I'll try to explain everything, right? Let's see... The dortors are the main enemies of the jilguereis. Because every caste of ashanriis have different skills and powers, they have different enemies as well. The dortors are kind of black shadows who take the life out of the ashanriis. They don't really have a body, so they cannot be killed with weapons or wands. Only the song of a jilguerei -or of any other ashanrii- can kill them. My cousin Sandrine is a dansarine, their court is in the Mediterranean, in the south of France, and they are famous for their dancing. Like the jilguereis can control you with their voices, so the dansarines can possess your mind when they dance. Before you know it, you'll be hanging on their every move, and when the music ends and they stop dancing... too late, you are already dead."

"Oh! Yes, I noticed that your cousin walks in a strange way, as if she were floating more than walking." Sirius commented.

"Yes, the dansarines walk on the tip of their toes, as if they were dancing ballet all of the time. But they really dance to any music, even rap." Edvard said smiling. "And as for Sha-adi, she is NOW an ashanrii, a jilguerei like Amanda. Don't ask me why or how, because I don't really know how it happened, the girls are all very secretive about it, but after the killings..."

"Killings?"

"Yes, from the Day of the Dortors and during the following weeks, a lot of ashanriis were killed. I think less than half of them survived. They were very numerous, so there are still plenty ashanriis in the world. Nevertheless, most of the ones who survived were already too old to have more children, and as 70 per cent of the children were killed too, they haven't been able to recover yet from that day."

Sirius looked nonplussed.

"Did you say 70 per cent of the children?"

"Yes," Edvard answered mournfully. "The attack had been very well planned. The enemy knew that the older ashanriis were very powerful, but an old woman can't have children and will eventually die, so it didn't matter if they survived or not. If they just killed the younger generations, the ashanriis would extinguish in due course. And that's what they tried to do. And almost succeeded too."

Both men took a good draught of wine. They felt they needed it.

"A war started between the ashanriis and their various enemies that day," Edvard continued. "It seems that they had planned a joint attack, with the help of some ashanriis themselves, who had been silly enough to believe their enemies really had something to offer them that was worth risking the life of the Princesses, so there was a war all over the world. The fuocciris, the ashanriis of the fire, which are the most numerous caste and the better prepared, since most of them are warriors, declared war to the enemies of all the castes and swore to defend them. They are very brave and loyal, and through the centuries they've saved the other castes more than once. When they joined the war, Amanda, Sha-adi and my cousin Sandrine were at the Mountain Castle, the fuocciris' castle, somewhere in China I believe. I don't really know what they were doing there. Probably just looking for protection, since Amanda's mother was dead and my aunt had been killed too a couple of days before that. The Mountain Castle was under siege for a very long time. That was something new in the history of the ashanriis, because the Mountain Castle is supposed to be the best defended place in the magical world. It's very hard to find, and if it weren't for the jilguerei traitors, I doubt very much that the giants would have had a chance."

"The giants?"

"Yes, giants are the worst enemies of the fuocciris. So, anyway, when the fuocciris were almost defeated, something happened. Nobody really knows what, but suddenly the giants retreated, and the fuocciris joined the freight in the rest of the world and finally defeated once more the enemies of the ashanriis. My cousin, Amanda and Sha-adi were there then, together with Ben and Mich, who were only three years old at the moment. I suspect they probably performed some dark magic, I don't know, but when they came back, Sha-adi had magical powers as well. Not that she couldn't sing before, you know mermaids have always been famous for singing -even muggles know that-, but now her voice has the power of a jilguerei's, and she can do magic as any other ashanrii."

Sirius was silent, trying to understand all the things that Edvard had told him. He had never known that the ashanriis really existed, and now it seemed that they had even had wars and the like. A whole history, maybe starting even earlier than the wizarding world's itself.

"So the giants are the enemies of the fuocciris and the dortors are the enemies of the jilguereis. Who or what are the worst enemies of the dansarines, then?"

Edvard tensed a bit. Not really much, but the change was there.

"Werewolves," he said in a hard voice.

Sirius blanched visibly. Moony... What would Sandrine or the others say if they knew his best friend was a werewolf? Would they still help him?

The sound of a key on the lock startled Sirius and Edvard out of their respective musings. They looked at the closed kitchen door, waiting for someone to come in. A moment later, Sandrine was there, with her long hair tied in a bun and her arms carrying a heavy bag with groceries. At the sight of the two men, she smiled and then greeted them with a suspicious look at the two of them:

"Hi! Did I interrupt something important?"

"No, not really," both Sirius and Edvard said at the same time.

Sandrine laughed.

"I see... Well, I won't ask again, but you really looked like you were expecting the Devil himself to come through that door. Mind you, not that I'm an angel either, but you're both safe from me, specially as I see there's lasagne for dinner and I'm starving."

Both men relaxed. Their thoughts had been dark, and now they realised Sandrine was probably right, there was a little tension in the air.

"Oh, I was just telling Sirius a bit about the ashanriis, and how Amanda and Sha-adi became sisters," Edvard said, as he approached Sandrine and kissed her cheek.

"Oh, I see. Definitely not a very funny subject," she frowned. "Well, then I'm afraid this subject is forbidden while I'm here. My day wasn't very good after all, and remembering sad stories is the last thing I need just now. You can go on with your explanation tomorrow, Ed. And anyway I need to speak to Sirius about his going back to his friends. Amanda called me and said she didn't have time to talk to you, Sirius, before leaving."

At this Sirius face immediately lighted with expectation. All the things that Edvard had told him moved to a corner of his mind. They weren't a priority now.

"Yes. She mentioned that she would be taking me back to Hogwarts, and that the people at Hogwarts knew her."

Sandrine nodded and laughed a bit:

"Yes, they do, quite well, I think."

Sirius didn't say a word, but the question was obvious in his handsome face, so Sandrine explained:

"I'm sure you know Professor Minerva McGonagall, right?"

"Yes..." Sirius answered, not seeing what the Transfiguration professor had to do with any of this.

Sandrine smiled once more. She was certainly enjoying this.

"Well, she is Amanda's auntie."

*****

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Thanks for the reviews!

Well, a big big hug to all of you for reviewing. I really wasn't expecting such a response. I'm glad you're enjoying my story and hope you'll go on reading. I must warn you, though, that our friends from the Harry Potter series are not gonna be around in the following chapters. I'm writing Chapter 6 now, and I don't think they will be in it either. They have been mentioned so far, but haven't appeared yet, so maybe in Chapter 7 you will see Harry's reaction to Sirius' resurrection. I'm not sure yet. In this chapter I just tried to explain a bit about the ashanriis, let me know if I succeeded or if you didn't understand a thing. Also this chapter is the longest I've written so far, the others will be shorter.

I must admit I don't think that J. K. Rowling will bring Sirius back from the dead, but I felt so sorry for Harry that I thought I'd give him a second chance. This story is not going to be only about Sirius though. He was the excuse I needed to introduce the ashanriis, and in a few chapters we'll be seeing other familiar faces. Or did you think that Snape would keep his abnormally large nose out of this story? ;-)

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shadowycat and **Topaz Waters**: Thank you both for your help! I've tried to use quotations this time instead of dashes. Dashes would be the usual option in Spanish, so I just used them without giving it a second thought. Let me know if you think the dialogues are more easy to follow this time. If they are, then I'll go back and correct chapters 1 and 2.

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Kady Rilla Wholi: What? You knew I was going to get so many reviews? Let me guess: you are Sybill Trelawney in disguise, aren't you? No? Well, then... maybe a cousin or something? :D

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Kabeebalers: Sirius didn't mention Harry so far because I didn't let him. :-) I'll explain why later.

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Christy L. Black: Christy, I'm from Spain, so you can write your reviews in Spanish if you feel more comfortable. ;-)

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	4. Plans

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Disclaimer: The characters that look familiar to you belong to J. K. Rowling. The ones you cannot find in any of her books are mine. I don't intend to make any money out of this. I'm just having some fun.

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Plans

"What?" Sirius asked nonplussed. Merlin! He had said the word "what" more times in the last few hours than probably in all of his previous life.

Sandrine smiled again. Sirius noticed she smiled almost all of the time, too.

"Yes, we call her 'Auntie Minnie'."

Now was Sirius' turn to laugh. Oh, Merlin, how he was going to tease the strict Minerva McGonagall about that! That was going to be fun!

"Actually, she is Amanda's grandaunt. Amanda's father was one of her nephews."

"I didn't know Professor McGonagall had any family. While I was at Hogwarts she never left the school, not even during the Christmas Holidays." Sirius was getting curious now.

"As far as I know, the McGonagalls were once a very large family, but they were massacred by Grindewald. I think only Minerva and Amanda's father survived. That's why they were so close. But then Ian McGonagall fell in love with Amanda's mother, an ashanrii, and so he had to choose between his normal life as a wizard or moving to the Ice Castle, where her beloved lived. Amanda's mother was a very important jilguerei..."

"Yes, Edvard told me," Sirius interrupted.

"Oh, ok. So you know she used to live in the Ice Castle, protecting the Princess..."

"Yes, and that's how Amanda and Sha-adi met."

"Right. I see you've paid attention," Sandrine complimented the wizard.

Edvard, who was laying the table now, smiled at this, but didn't comment. Sandrine went on explaining:

"The ashanriis protecting their princesses cannot leave the castle unless they are on a mission. They are supposed to be there all of the time, because the future of the whole caste depends on them doing her job well. I think that Minerva used to visit them quite a lot. She had a special visitors leave and could come in and out of the Castle almost at will. Amanda was very attached to her as a child, and is still. When Miriam Ming died, Amanda and her brother Benjamin went to live with her aunt at Hogwarts. Minerva thought they would be safe there. But when the fuocciris defeated the enemies of the ashanriis, the jilguereis claimed Amanda back, because the ashanriis have their own schools, and Amanda was supposed to attend one of them. In fact, Amanda was destined to become as well a guardian of the Princess, since her mother had been one, an the honour of protecting the Princess is inherited from mother to daughter, but... well, let's say that things were a little complicated back then, and finally, when Amanda finished school, she moved to France and we shared a flat in Paris, where I was living back then."

A sudden idea struck Sirius:

"Wait. Are we in France now?"

"No, we're in Belfast," Sandrine answered in a homesick tone. "We moved here a couple of years ago, because Amanda got a very good job offer from the laboratory where she is still working. They work with pharmaceutical products."

"Amanda works for a muggle firm?" Sirius asked surprised.

"Yes. We all do."

Edvard looked pointedly at her, and Sandrine got the message, so she clarified:

"I mean, Sha-adi, Amanda and myself work for muggles. The guys still have works related to the magical world. Sha-adi has her own kindergarten, she always liked kids. Amanda went to a muggle university and became a chemist. I attended a muggle university as well, and became a nurse. I work at a muggle children hospital now. Then Edvard is a teacher at Beauxbatons."

"Oh, really?" Sirius asked, he found that information very interesting.

"Yes." Edvard confirmed with a smile. "Defence Against the Dark Arts."

"Oh! Isn't the job jinxed at Beauxbatons, then?" Sirius asked half joking.

"Jinxed? Why would it be jinxed?" Edvard laughed.

Sirius shrugged and explained:

"Well, you see, it is supposed to be jinxed at Hogwarts. None of the teachers has lasted more than a year for a while now."

"I see..." Edvard replied thoughtfully. "Then it's definitely not jinxed at Beauxbatons, because I've been working for Madame Maxime for the last twelve years."

"Wow! I must tell Moony that," Sirius said aloud without thinking.

"Moony?" Sandrine asked.

Sirius blanched. Moony was a werewolf, werewolves were the enemies of the dansarines, and Sandrine was a dansarine. He shouldn't have mentioned him.

"Yes." he answered without much enthusiasm. "My best friend. He taught Defence Against the Dark Arts for a year at Hogwarts. That was a couple of years ago."

"Oh, really?" Edvard looked very interested in this information. "Maybe you could introduce us some time. I'd really like to meet him and see what he thinks about the syllabus. As far as I know, the subject is taught very differently at the various magical schools."

"Yes..." - Sirius answered cautiously. If Edvard was a good teacher, and he probably was, it wouldn't take him long to realise that Moony was a werewolf, and Sirius didn't think that would be a good thing, so he tried to find a suitable excuse: "It might be kind of difficult, though. He's working for Dumbledore now, fighting against Voldemort, you know, so he is a lot abroad. I don't even know exactly where. It's secret, you see. I don't even see him much now. But I'll tell him about you whenever I see him."

Sirius smiled a bit at this, trying not to look nervous. He failed miserably though, and Edvard and Sandrine had started thinking that there was something strange going on with this 'Moony guy'. The wizard decided to try and go back to the old subject:

"So, Edvard is a teacher. And what about the other boys I haven't met yet? Your brother and..."

It worked, Edvard and Sandrine forgot about Moony, or so Sirius was hoping. Sandrine went on talking:

"Well, my brother, Michel... well, we call him Mich... but, anyway, he is a healer, but he doesn't really work as such. He always liked research, and so he went on with my father's work. My father was a healer as well, but after some years he decided that he'd like to do some research and, well, after he died, nobody went on with his work, which was a pity, because he had reached some very interesting conclusions. So my brother decided he didn't want to work in a hospital at all, and a couple of years ago, after he finished his training period at St. Mungo's, he rented a small office close to our flat, here in Belfast, and has been going on with my father's work. Not that he has been able to do much so far, because it's really difficult to get volunteers for the research, but he's trying, and I'm sure he'll succeed in the end. Amanda is helping him now and then. And I try to help too whenever I can."

Sirius was going to ask what was Mich's research about, but Sandrine didn't give him time enough and just went on talking:

"Amanda's brother is a healer as well. He works at St. Mungo's, but he still lives with us. And Morten, Edvard's cousin, works for the Norwegian Ministry of Magic, International Magical Cooperation Department. They apparate to go to work."

"Oh, I know a guy..." Sirius was going to tell them about Percy Weasley, maybe he and Morten had met, but didn't have the time, because just then they could hear someone coming in, and a moment afterwards they could see Sha-adi and three boys greet them through the open kitchen door. They all went in and kissed Sandrine's cheek. Then she made the introductions.

Michel Ayres looked exactly like her sister, but he was much taller than her and his hair wasn't so long, just above his shoulders. Morten Bergen had very square features, handsome dark blue eyes and short dark hair. He looked remarkably like Edvard, but Edvard's hair was longer and more brownish. Then Benjamin Ming, Amanda's brother, looked very much like her too, but he had very short hair, and his blue eyes weren't as impressive.

Once the introductions were over, Sandrine sent them all to their rooms so that they could wash themselves a bit before dinner.

"Sirius," she said. "Our family dinners are usually quite informal, but I think it would be better if you just put something else on, you know. Not that Edvard's pyjamas don't suit you, but..."

Sirius turned as red as a chilli pepper. He hadn't even realised that he was wearing still the pyjamas Sandrine had given him the previous night. He hadn't even had a shower nor a shave, and suddenly he was very conscious of his appearance.

"Oh, sorry!" He managed to say. "I was so caught in Edvard's explanations about the ashanriis, and then you came, and... well, time just fled and I didn't even realise I was still on my pyjamas, I mean, Edvard's."

"It's ok, Sirius," Edvard tried to reassure him. "Never mind Sandrine. She can be a bit 'naughty' now and then."

Sandrine put a very innocent face at this. She really looked like a good girl should, with that angel's face of hers.

"The lasagne is ready," Edvard went on saying, "but it will be too hot to eat, so we'd better let it cool a bit. I'll come with you and lend you some of my clothes. I think we have the same size."

With an apologetic look for Sandrine's benefit, Sirius left the kitchen with Edvard, still as red as he had ever been in his life, and more than a bit annoyed at hearing Sandrine's clear laughter from the kitchen.

***

Dinner that evening was the most enjoyable one Sirius had had in a very long time. Being at his parents' house was ok, but he had been alone most of the time, and then, when he had company, not everybody was in the right mood for an agreeable meal. But here, with this people he had just met, he felt strangely comfortable and at home. It was obvious that Sandrine was the head of the house. All the others treated her like an older sister, even Edvard, who was clearly older than her, and Benjamin, who wasn't related to her by blood. The food was excellent, evidently Edvard was a good cook, but the best part of dinner wasn't the food, but the almost palpable family feeling around the table. They all joked and talked about how their respective days had gone, and after a while Sirius felt as if he had known all of them for a very long time. He wished Amanda would have been there, though. He wasn't sure why, but he had the feeling that SHE was the real 'boss', and that Sandrine was just filling her place, as she couldn't be there with them.

Nobody really treated Sirius in a special way. They behaved around him as if he was just a friend who had come over for dinner. They didn't ask him about his death and resurrection, which he was thankful for, and basically left him alone with his thoughts. So Sirius took the opportunity to study them all. He wondered if there might be something more than mere friendship between these handsome boys and beautiful girls, but it didn't seem so. Benjamin and Sha-adi behaved as blood brothers, having being raised as such by Amanda, and Michel and Morten looked as if they thought Sha-adi was their sister as well. Then Edvard and Sandrine were cousins, which supposedly excluded any kind of more carnal interest in each other. Sirius couldn't help but wonder if maybe there would have been something more interesting to see between Edvard and Amanda. A few hours ago, when she left, Sirius didn't think they were a couple, but maybe there was an interest there... Sirius shook his head as the dog he was sometimes and forced himself to move his thoughts in another direction. He was feeling like that old gossip, Mrs. Figg. 

After dinner, which ended quite late, Sandrine and Sha-adi took Sirius to the sitting-room with a drink on their hands. The others excused themselves and went to bed. Then the girls finally told him how they had planned to take him back to Hogwarts. Their plan was really simple. Amanda had contacted her aunt Minerva during the day and had told her about Sirius being alive and how Sandrine had saved him. After her aunt managed to assimilate the information and react, Amanda told her she would be taking him to Hogwarts herself, so that they could be sure he REALLY was Sirius Black and not an impostor. That possibility was very remote anyway, since nobody knew Sirius was alive, but still they didn't want to take any chances. Sirius would go with Amanda in his animagus form, because his name hadn't been cleared yet, and as classes hadn't finished yet, they didn't want to risk being seen by any students or teachers who might recognise Sirius. Apparently, the bond created between Sandrine and Sirius allowed her to know some aspects of his previous life, that's how she had known he was an animagus and had come up with the idea.

"Wouldn't it be easier if you just contacted Dumbledore himself and asked him to come here?" Sirius asked after listening to them.

"No," Sha-adi answered immediately. "We have been out of the magical world for too long. We don't want to attract the attention of dark wizards or other ashanriis to ourselves. If someone knew Albus Dumbledore had been in our flat, we might be in trouble. The ashanriis are supposed to remain neutral and let the wizards kill themselves if they want to. Sandrine shouldn't even have rescued you. She could be in trouble too."

Sirius looked at Sandrine then, worry in his face.

"It's ok," Sandrine said. "It's not as if you had asked me to help you. And it's not even as if I had intended to interfere. If this situation is anyone's fault, then it's Bellatrix Lestrange's."

Sirius couldn't agree more with her. Sandrine smiled a lot and seemed always cheerful, but Sirius noticed that any time his cousin's name was mentioned, her face would turn deadly serious, and her eyes would flash in anger. She really hated the woman. 

"So, when are we leaving?" He asked.

"In a couple of days. Auntie Minnie is at St. Mungo's now. It seems there was an accident at Hogwarts..." Sandrine started to say, but Sirius, shocked by this information, interrupted her with a note of panic in his voice.

"An accident at Hogwarts? What kind of accident? Has Voldemort attacked the school?"

"No, no, I don't think so," Sandrine tried to calm him. "I don't really know what has happened. Amanda just said that her aunt had had an accident, so I thought maybe one of the students had had problems with a difficult spell or something. If Hogwarts had been attacked, Amanda would have told me, I'm sure of that."

Sirius nodded, but looked very worried all the same. Sha-adi tried to encourage him:

"Oh, don't worry, Sirius, you'll be soon with your friends. You'll see. And meanwhile we can talk about the bond linking you and Sandrine. I think you just received a nice amount of new information in the last hours, maybe we should all go to bed. Try to rest, and we can talk about it tomorrow calmly."

Sirius thought that was an excellent idea. He was feeling very tired anyway, and didn't think his brain could really cope with any more information right now.

Finally in bed, Sirius couldn't sleep. He had been so shocked with his own experiences and had felt so overwhelmed at knowing that the ashanriis really existed that he hadn't given a second thought to the friends he had left in the Department of Mysteries. But now... knowing that Minerva McGonagall was at St. Mungo's, worry was eating him alive. He doubted very much that any student was strong enough to hurt the Transfiguration professor. She had been his teacher too, and he knew the woman was a very powerful witch, Dumbledore's right hand in everything, even inside the Order. But then she hadn't been with them when they had entered the Ministry. Could she have come later, with Dumbledore? Or maybe she had really been hurt at Hogwarts...

His mind wandered to two familiar and beloved faces: Harry and Remus, his godson and his only true friend. What had become of them? Were they hurt? Had someone caught Bellatrix or had she escaped once more? And what about the other members of the Order of the Phoenix? Were they ok? He needed to know, he wanted to know it now, but how... Of course! The Mirror! He had given a part of it to Harry and had kept the other one. Maybe he could contact Harry and see if he was ok. 

He got out of bed and searched fretfully for the clothes he was wearing when he had died. Merlin, did that sound strange - 'when he had died'. Sirius shuddered a bit, although it was a very warm night. He found the clothes in a chair on the corner of the bedroom. Nothing in the right pocket, nothing in the left one, nothing in the inside pocket. Strange... He could have sworn that he had had the mirror with him at all times since he had given half of it to Harry. Not that the boy had used it anyway...

He had hoped Harry would remember about it and try to contact him now and then, just to chat a bit, not about Voldemort or other dark subjects, maybe just about quidditch, girls... Of course, Harry was at school and didn't have time. The O.W.L.s required a lot of concentration, and then his scar had been hurting... Still Sirius had to admit that he had been a bit disappointed not to hear from Harry for such a long time. And then, when they had finally met again, he had DIED, and Harry... Oh, Merlin! Harry had lost his parents and now he probably thought he had lost his godfather too! How could he have been so insensible? Instead of worrying about his godson, he had been chatting about ashanriis and mermaids and lasagne! Why hadn't he insisted on returning home immediately? Surely Sandrine would have understood.

Sirius searched again, but the mirror wasn't there. Maybe Sandrine had taken it out of a pocket before washing his robes. Or maybe it had fallen out when he had appeared in her room and was somewhere in a corner, maybe under the bed... Well, there was no way he was going to wake up Sandrine and ask her about the mirror now. He would have to wait until the next day. It was his fault that he had been so thoughtless, and Sandrine needed a good rest after the emotions of the previous night. He had been sleeping the entire day, but she had been working, and was probably very tired.

So Sirius laid in bed, staring at the ceiling, a guilty feeling in his stomach, unable to sleep for hours and hours, just picturing Remus and Harry, then Harry and Remus, and wishing he had thought sooner about them.

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Thanks for the reviews!

Thanks a lot to the ones who read and reviewed my story. I hope the rest of you didn't find the ashanriis' story too boring. I really think Chapter 3 was unavoidable, since you are going to need some 'background information' for future chapters. Maybe the first chapters won't be so exciting or action-packed, but I need to let 'slip' some clues for the things that are going to happen when our friends from Hogwarts 'apparate' in the story.

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Kady Rilla Wholi: I hadn't planned to explain the reason of the animosity between werewolves and dansarines, but if you want to know, I can try to insert a small explanation in a later chapter, you'll have to wait a bit, though. And you'll have to wait too, to know what Sandrine thinks of Sirius' friendship with Remus, because if I told you now, I would spoil the fun of finding it out later. ;-)

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Kabeebalers: Well, now you know why Sirius hadn't thought about Harry before now. I hope you found my explanation reasonable. It's not every day that a person -even a wizard- dies and then comes back to life. The shock would probably make you forget about anything else. And then, for Sirius, being surrounded by ashanriis is comparable to a muggle finding themselves suddenly surrounded by wizards when they thought they only existed in fairytales. Simply too many surprises in a very short time... :D

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TaliaAshke: Thanks a lot for your kind words. I don't intend to explain in detail the last war between the ashanriis and their enemies, because then this wouldn't be a Harry-Potter-fanfic any more, but I'll explain some more things related to that in later chapters, that's why I needed to mention it so early in the story. I'm not sure how much I'm gonna explain, though, because I don't know where the story will take me yet. If there's anything you feel I should explain, let me know, and I'll try to blend it somehow with the rest of the story. :-)


	5. Calm Before The Storm

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Disclaimer: The characters that look familiar to you belong to J. K. Rowling. The ones you cannot find in any of her books are mine. I don't intend to make any money out of this. I'm just having some fun.

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Calm Before The Storm

Sirius awoke once again in an unknown room, but this time it took him less time to remember he was at Sandrine's house. Or was it Amanda's? He really didn't know. Well, that didn't really matter now. The important thing was that this time he hadn't thought all the things he had experienced in the last hours were nothing more than a dream. He knew that Sandrine, Amanda, Edvard and all the others existed, and he was glad for it, because that meant he was alive.

After having a shower and a shave -he didn't want to be told again to get dressed-, he went to the kitchen. Edvard was there, eating some cereals and drinking some coffee while reading a newspaper. A muggle one, Sirius noticed.

"Good morning! Did you sleep well?" Edvard asked him.

"Yes, very well, thank you," Sirius lied, he didn't want to sound ungrateful. "I wasn't sure if there would be anyone awake so early."

Edvard shrugged.

"I've always been an early raiser."

Sirius just nodded. He was too sleepy yet for conversation.

"Coffee?" Edvard offered.

"Yes, please."

Edvard poured some coffee for Sirius and then pointed at the table, laid with a wide variety of food, from fruit to toasts, pastries and cereals.

"I can cook something stronger if you want, some bacon and eggs, maybe?"

"Thanks," Sirius said, "some toast will be fine. I'm not very hungry. I ate a lot of lasagne yesterday."

"Yes, I noticed," Edvard said smiling. "I'm glad you liked it."

"It was delicious," the wizard said while nodding.

After that, they just ate their breakfast in silence. Sirius was pondering if he should talk to Edvard about his desire to return to his friends that very same day. He wasn't sure how much influence the young man had over his cousin or the other girls, but maybe it was worth a try. The few hours sleep he had got the night before hadn't helped in the least to lessen his worries. How were Harry and Remus? Did they know already that he was alive? Had Professor McGonagall had time enough to tell them already or was she still at St. Mungo's?

This thought had barely entered his mind when the person who could answer all of his questions came into the kitchen: Amanda.

"Good mo-o-orning!" She yawned.

"Good morning!" answered Sirius, his eyes almost popping out of his face while he looked Amanda up and down, taking in her very sexy black long night-dress and her sleepy face.

Edvard didn't speak, but poured some coffee for the girl, and then smiled a bit to himself at seeing Sirius' appraising look.

Shaking himself out of his shock, Sirius finally took the opportunity of asking Amanda about her aunt.

"Oh, she is feeling much better, thanks." She replied with a smile, and then turned suddenly serious and added: "That toad-faced woman! Merlin help her if I ever meet her again!"

Edvard raised an eyebrow in silent inquiry.

"Umbridge!" Amanda almost shouted.

Edvard's second eyebrow joined the first one and almost disappeared under his hair.

"She has been working at Hogwarts," Amanda explained, "spying on Dumbledore and making things difficult for the teachers. My aunt has been complaining to me about her since the first day of classes. I must admit I didn't really listen to her complains. I just thought she didn't like the woman."

Edvard snorted.

"Well, you know she can be a bit picky with people. Look at poor Sybill, for instance. She is really a sweetie, but my aunt just can't stand her and will never give her a chance."

"Mandy, Mandy, Mandy. This is Umbridge we are talking about. You should have known better." Edvard reprimanded.

"Oh, I know," Amanda sighed. "But I guess I never really thought the woman could be a danger to anyone, at least not with Dumbledore around."

"So, what happened?" Sirius asked. He had heard about Umbridge's interference in the Order's work, but he was more worried now about the actual circumstances that had taken Minerva McGonagall to St. Mungo's. There was a possibility that someone else had been injured as well.

"The toad decided she wanted to arrest Hagrid," Amanda informed them, her expression hard, "probably just because she disliked him, I doubt she had any real reason. Being a coward, she didn't want to be on her own when the moment to arrest Hagrid came, so she called some aurors. When my aunt tried to defend Hagrid, the aurors shot stunners at her. FOUR of them, if you believe it."

"For all the Princesses!" Edvard exclaimed. "What were they thinking of? How could they attack a Hogwart's Professor?"

Sirius just nodded in agreement with Edvard's indignation.

"Who knows," Amanda shrugged. "But one thing you can be sure of. If I ever come across that woman..." Amanda said menacingly, and the flash in her eyes confirmed Sirius' suspicions that, if that were to happen, Umbridge would be indeed in trouble. He just couldn't believe it when he heard Edvard laughing.

"Well, you'll have to be very fast, you know. I doubt very much there will be much left of her if Sandrine gets to her first." The man commented, and then laughed some more.

"Sandrine?" Sirius asked, a little bit lost now. "Why would she want to hurt Umbridge?"

Edvard stopped laughing all at once. "Well, it's a long story," he answered noncommittally.

"Gentlemen, enough about that woman, if you don't mind," Amanda pleaded, rubbing his tired eyes. "I've been thinking too often about her in the last hours. I'd rather forget her for a while. Why don't you tell me about your day yesterday? I'm sure it couldn't be worse than mine."

While he poured himself some more coffee and started buttering a piece of toast, Sirius explained to Amanda what had happened the day before. Not much, really. When he told her that Edvard had been telling him a bit of the ashanriis history and how Sha-adi and herself had become 'sisters', Amanda turned deadly serious and shot a fierce look at Edvard. The man looked guiltily at her and then lowered his eyes to the tablecloth. Sirius sensed there was something wrong, so he just went on explaining that he had met Benjamin. Amanda's furrowed brow instantly cleared at the mention of her brother's name. She smiled sweetly once more and started praising his brother, saying how good and clever he was.

Edvard took this opportunity to make himself scarce, and left the kitchen after saying, with a pointed look at Sirius, that he would be in the library if they needed him. Amanda shot him a last angry look before he closed the door.

Sirius cleared his throat and then changed to the subject he really cared about: his return.

"You know, I'm a bit worried about my friends. When I was... killed," he added with an effort, "my friends and Dumbledore himself were still fighting some Death Eaters. Yesterday, with all the shock of being alive again, I really didn't think about it, but when Sandrine mentioned that your aunt was at St. Mungo's..."

"You started worrying about your friends," Amanda finished for him.

Sirius nodded.

"Well," Amanda said sorrowfully, "I'm afraid I cannot ease your worries. As I told you, my aunt was injured at Hogwarts, so I doubt very much that she knows anything about your friends. The healer who attended her told us that she could probably leave St. Mungo's tomorrow, though, so you'll probably be able to join them soon. Four stunners are not enough to keep a McGonagall out of the way for long," Amanda commented proudly, lifting her nose up in the air without even realising.

Sirius smiled happily at her. His mood was suddenly lifting. "Tomorrow? You mean that I could be back at Hogwarts maybe in a few hours?"

Amanda smiled at the wizard's obvious hopefulness. "Well, we'll have to wait first until my aunt gets the chance to talk to Dumbledore. She will contact me when everything is ready for your return."

Sirius' smile faded a bit.

Amanda reached out and laid her hand on top of Sirius'. "Listen," she said encouragingly, looking him in the eye, "my brother will tell us for sure the moment the healer decides my aunt is fit to leave the hospital, he works there, and although it's Saturday, he's going to keep auntie Minnie company."

Sirius nodded and then laid his other hand on top of Amanda's. "Thanks, I know you are really trying to help. I'll try to be patient, I promise."

Amanda smiled at him and their gazes locked, but the spell was almost instantly broken, because at that moment the kitchen door opened and Sha-adi and Morten came in yawning loudly. Amanda and Sirius let go of each other's hand extremely quickly, but not quickly enough to avoid catching the other two's attention. Sha-adi and Morten didn't comment, but looked at each other knowingly and couldn't suppress a tiny smile.

"Good morning!" Both of them said cheerfully.

"Good morning, and goodbye!" Replied Amanda, and instantly stood from the chair she had been occupying and made for the door.

"What? You're leaving again? You just came a couple of hours ago!" A worried Sha-adi exclaimed.

"I know," Amanda sighed, but there is some work I wanted to finish before Monday, and as I spent the night in the hospital, I should really get going now."

"You're going back to the hospital this evening?" Sha-adi asked.

"If auntie Minnie is not realised before 5 p.m. yes," her sister said.

"Well, then I'll go with you. At least you won't have to be there alone." Sha-adi said with determination all over her face.

"Sure? You really don't need to, you know? I can take a book. Or maybe some work..." Amanda added as an afterthought.

"No, really, it's ok," Sha-adi insisted. "Auntie Minnie is like my aunt too, and then we can take turns and you can try and get some sleep."

Amanda thought about it for a moment, and then nodded. "Ok, if you really want to come, perfect. I'll probably be at the lab the whole day. I told Ben I would be there at around five, so he can be here for dinner."

"Right, so I'll pick you up at the lab at around three, and then we can have something to eat before going to St. Mungo's."

Amanda laughed at her sister's distrust. She didn't seem to think that Amanda would eat unless she was forced to.

"So be it," she pompously replied, and bowed a bit before leaving the kitchen.

Sirius rose too, he wanted to talk to Edvard and see what was going on before. He didn't understand why Amanda would be mad at her friend for telling him about her life.

He found the library right away, a spacious room next to the sitting-room. Three of the room's walls were covered from floor to ceiling in bookcases full of all kind of written temptations. There was a table in the middle of the room, with a strange thing on top of it and lots of papers, but Sirius didn't look at it twice. Edvard wasn't there. Sirius hadn't enjoyed reading for a while, and he felt now was the right time to do it. Although his experiences lately had been anything but common, he felt strangely at ease and relaxed, so a good reading was just what he needed at the moment.

He approached the wall of books just behind the table and started looking for an appealing title. To his disappointment, most of the books he found at first were about chemicals, herbs and natural remedies. Then there were a lot about infirmary and medicine in general. Those were followed by lots of books on children and education... He was starting to despair of finding something that suited his tastes, when he finally found something a little more interesting: books about the dark arts and how to fight them. 'Probably Edvard's,' he thought. He found then an interesting issue of _Transfiguration Today_ which included an interesting article about living animagi - the registered ones, of course.

Sirius took the magazine and was going to leave the room, thinking he would enjoy the article much more while sitting in the terrace of the flat, when a paper laying on the table caught his eye. The words '_Wronged Werewolves - A summary of the misconceptions about the lycantropic condition_' were printed in black letters on it. Sirius lifted the page and looked at the next one. It seemed to be a book on werewolves, probably a photocopy, since the pages weren't bounded, just printed. Still, Sirius couldn't help but wonder. The title on the first page seemed to imply that the writer was defending werewolves, not attacking them as most writers did. He lifted some more pages, searching for the author's name, but it wasn't there. 'Maybe an anonymous work. No wonder, since probably the general public wouldn't appreciate much a study on werewolves safety and would want to lynch the author,' he thought darkly. The most curious thing of all, though, was that he had found such a book in the house of a dansarine. Edvard had said that werewolves were the mortal enemies of the dansarines, so why would anyone in that flat bother to read or even copy such a book?

"Oh! You're finally free?"

Sirius yelped in surprise and let the pages in his hand fall to the ground. He hadn't heard Edvard coming.

"Sorry I scared you, didn't mean to. It was too hot in here, so I went to the terrace, but when I saw Amanda leaving I thought you might come to the library to meet me."

"That's ok," Sirius said, very conscious that he had been probably looking at something he shouldn't. "I came looking for you, but as you weren't here I thought I might as well pick something to read. I found an interesting issue of _Transfiguration Today_ and was going to the terrace myself, but as I was leaving I noticed this, and stopped to look at it."

He then proceeded to collect the scattered pages on the floor. Edvard approached to help him, and when he realised what Sirius had been looking at, visibly blanched. Now Sirius was even more curious, so he decided to try and see if Edvard knew the author of the text. Moony would be most interested in such a book - that is, if he ever got the chance to tell him about it before his friend cursed him into next week for letting him think he was dead.

"I thought it strange that there was a book on werewolves in your flat," Sirius commented tentatively, "as you said that they were dansarines' enemies... And specially here, laying on the table, as if it had been consulted recently..."

Edvard was still rearranging the picked pages on top of the others and didn't look at Sirius when he answered in a very strained voice:

"Well, you have to know your enemies to be able to fight them, don't you? You can find a lot of material too on giants and other dark creatures in here. I use them now and then too, as reference material for my classes."

Sirius thought that was quite logical, since Edvard taught Defence Against the Dark Arts, but there was something about the way he seemed to be avoiding Sirius' gaze, and he wondered why Edvard looked so nervous. But before he could ask, Edvard looked at him, a quite sincere smile in his face, and added:

"So, what about we have a drink in the terrace while we discuss a bit about transfiguration? I must admit I'm quite fascinated by the subject, although I never was very good at it."

"Ummm, ok," Sirius agreed.

Edvard leaded the way to the terrace and Sirius followed him, still wondering about that book and thinking that maybe he could try and ask Amanda about it later, since Edvard didn't seem very kin on the subject.

A little bit later, a glass of juice in a hand and the magazine in the other, Sirius finally asked Edvard about Amanda's reaction at breakfast.

"Oh, yes," the man nodded, "I had completely forgotten about that. I should have told you yesterday that the girls don't like much talking about the past. I suppose it brings them bad memories, of their mothers' death... You probably noticed that Sandrine wasn't too happy either yesterday when she came home and we told her what we were talking about. Amanda just was a little bit more obvious this morning, but I don't think she was any angrier than my cousin. Sandrine was just more subtle. I just thought I should warn you. From now on, if they ask what we are talking about, just say 'sexy witches', that will shut them up," Edvard said, and both men grinned.

***

The whole day was spent in a leisurely way, just chatting with Edvard and Morten about different things. Mich had apparently left before Sirius had awoken, Sha-adi had gone shopping with a friend before going to pick up Amanda at work, and Sandrine had had an emergency call from the hospital and had left in a flash, promising Sirius she would explain everything about the bond on Sunday. He didn't care much, though. He still felt terribly guilty for not running out of the flat right then and finding Remus and Harry to put them at ease, but he had promised Amanda he would try to be patient, and Sirius Black kept his promises. He knew it was a necessary evil. Everything would be much better if Dumbledore was warned of his 'resurrection' beforehand.

On the other hand, Sirius really liked Edvard, he reminded him a lot of Moony, and the wizard thought for a moment that Edvard and Remus would probably get along very well - if it weren't because Remus was a werewolf and Edvard was the cousin of a dansarine, that is. Pity, really. Edvard cooked lunch and they ate it together in the kitchen. They even shared some red wine. Cooking was a hobby of Edvard's, and he was really good at it. That reminded Sirius again of Remus, he loved cooking too.

Benjamin came back home just on time for dinner, and assured Sirius that his aunt was much better and would probably leave the hospital the very next day. Sirius took a deep breath. At least, Harry and Remus wouldn't have to suffer much longer.

Little did he know, things wouldn't go precisely as planned the next day.

*****

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Thanks for the reviews!

Thanks for reading and reviewing!

I know I had said that chapters 4 to 6 would be shorter, but that was before I realised that I had made a mistake - I had forgotten that Professor McGonagall was in St. Mungo's, and she was going to be the link between Hogwarts and the ashanriis in my story -, so I had to re-write chapters 4 to 6 and change the plot a bit. I must admit it has been very traumatic, but now Chapter 6 is almost ready - again -, I can talk about it. And I can say for sure that in Chapter 7 we are going to meet again some familiar faces.

In this chapter nothing much happens, but next chapter things are gonna get a bit messy for our friends, so cross your fingers and wish them luck! ;-)


	6. The Second War Begins

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Disclaimer: The characters that look familiar to you belong to J. K. Rowling. The ones you cannot find in any of her books are mine. I don't intend to make any money out of this. I'm just having some fun.

****

The Second War Begins

On Sunday, Sirius woke up quite late. He finally had slept well. No nightmares about falling into death nor of being chased by Dementors.

When he finished getting dressed, he went to the kitchen to pour himself some coffee. On his way there he saw Sandrine in the terrace, so he brought her another cup and sat himself on one of the chairs, enjoying the cool morning air.

"Good morning!" Sandrine greeted him with a smile from her position on the floor, she was prodding the earth of some flowerpots with a stick. "I see you've slept well tonight, you look much more rested."

Sirius nodded and then moved the cup he had brought for her so that she would notice.

"Ah! Thank you!" She said, and approached the table where the cup was lying. "You really read my mind, I was just thinking some coffee would be lovely." With a sigh, she took off her gardening gloves and sat on another chair next to Sirius.

"Any news?" the wizard asked. "Is Professor McGonagall still in St. Mungo's?

Sandrine nodded. "She's going back to Hogwarts today, though. Amanda came back late at night to have some rest - Sha-adi stayed at the hospital - and left again early this morning. She is going to wait until Auntie Minnie is discharged from hospital, then she'll accompany her to Hogwarts. We thought maybe it would be better if she talked directly with Albus Dumbledore. It will probably be faster."

"I see," Sirius commented thoughtfully. "So I might be leaving today, right?"

"Yes. Tomorrow at the very latest, I think."

"And what happens then? Sirius asked. Sandrine didn't seem to understand him, so he clarified: "I mean, we'll we meet again? Will I remember that I've been here or will you obliviate me?"

Sandrine smiled her admiration. "Very well, Mr. Black. I'm impressed! We won't exactly obliviate you, but you must certainly forget some things. You will remember us and you'll remember that you were killed and I saved you, but you won't remember how it felt when you fell through the Veil nor about my web. Only dead people can know those kind of things. It wouldn't be wise to have 'resurrected' people explaining what is there after death. Although you didn't reach your final destination, because I stopped you," she added, as an afterthought.

"And there are no words to express my gratitude for that, Sandrine. No words at all." The wizard said with a sad shake of his head.

Sandrine patted his arm to show him that she understood. There was a moment of silence, and then the ashanrii went on talking:

"I'd better start explaining all about the bond now. We don't know how soon you'll have to go, and I'd rather tell you before you leave. There isn't really much to say, anyway." She sighed, and then went on: "First of all, let me tell you that you're very welcome to come and visit us or even stay here for a while any time you want too, but as we never know how soon you're gonna feel the bond linking us, the sooner you are warned, the better."

Sirius thanked Sandrine for her kind invitation, but there was something in Sandrine's expression that made him ask if the bond would hurt any of them in some way.

"No," she answered, "the bond is not painful, but if I were to be in danger or much suffering, you'd probably feel it. It will be just a strange sensation that something is going on, and then, whatever you're doing or wherever you are, your thoughts will turn to me."

"If I feel that you are suffering or in danger, is there any way I can help you? Will I feel it if you..." Sirius stopped speaking awkwardly.

"Die?" Sandrine finished for him. "You will have the same sensation I've described before, and then you'll simply know that I'm dead, without knowing how or why, you'll just know. And no, thank you very much for you gallant offer, but you won't be able to help me if you feel than I'm in pain. I will be able to help you, though, if I sense that you need me." Sandrine explained, trying to smile and lighten the mood a bit.

"That's very unfair," Sirius complained. "So you can save me, but I cannot help you in return."

"Sirius, there's many ways of helping someone. We cannot know now what life has in store for us. Maybe you'll be able to help me in some way. I mean, if I'm being attacked and you're there, you can of course help me. What I meant is that, if I were in danger and you were, for instance, on holidays in Australia, you probably wouldn't reach me soon enough to be able to help me. The bond lets you know I'm suffering, but it doesn't let you know WHERE I am. You cannot just apparate by my side in a flash, do you understand?"

"And you'll be able to apparate by my side if I need you?" Sirius asked.

"Yes," Sandrine responded. "But you must bear in mind that I don't need to be by your side to help you. I'm an ashanrii. My magic is much more powerful than the average witch's, even though I haven't use it for a very long time. If I were to feel that you're being attacked, let's say, for instance, that someone throws the Avada Kedavra curse at you, then I could interpose a shield between you and the curse, and you'll have time to react and defend yourself. Now, if you were unconscious, I'd be able to apparate by your side and defend you as well as I could. Of course, that I do my best doesn't mean that I will be able to win the battle against your enemy. We could both die."

"It's definitely not fair," Sirius commented dejectedly.

"It's not your fault, Sirius. Just take care of yourself so that you don't need my help too often, ok?" Sandrine said half-jokingly.

Sirius nodded once more. "Ok," he said.

"And then, we won't only be in contact when in danger," Sandrine went on animatedly. "I'll know it too, for instance, if you were to fall from you broom while playing at Quidditch, or if the Giant Squid at Hogwarts tried to drown you... and then I'll laugh myself sick, so, the bond really has its compensations." Sandrine explained, with an innocent look at Sirius.

Sirius, his mood finally improving thanks to Sandrine's joke, was going to retaliate, but Mich, who had approached them while they were talking, was laughing so hard that he couldn't make himself heard.

"Very funny!" Sirius commented playfully when Mich's laughter had subsided a bit.

"You need to be careful around my sister, Sirius," the boy warned him, "she can be very bad if she wants to."

Sandrine looked offended, her nose high in the air, and then gave Mich a playful shove, he had made the mistake of approaching her too much.

The three of them were still recovering from laughter, when the telephone rang.

"Oh, no! Must be from the hospital, I'll get it," Sandrine said, and went to pick up the phone.

The two men were still smiling broadly, when Sandrine's worried voice reached them.

"Oh, dear... Yes... Yes... Ok... It's on now, you can send it... Ok, I'll hang now then... Yes, I'll show it to Sirius, don't worry, we were speaking precisely when you called... Yes, I'll warn the others... I'll do that too, it's a good idea... Ok, see you later then... Good luck with Dumbledore... Bye!"

She hadn't yet hung the telephone when Mich and Sirius were already by her side, asking what was going on.

"It was Amanda," Sandrine said. "The Ministry of Magic has acknowledged Voldemort's return. It was in the 'Sunday Prophet' today. Amanda says everybody is talking about it at St. Mungo's. She's sending a copy of the article by fax."

Just then, the telephone rang again, but Sandrine didn't pick it up. The fax responded then, and the three of them waited with their hearts thundering in their breasts, trying to read the article upside-down as it came out of the machine. The words 'He Who Must Not Be Named Returns' where printed in bold capital letters at the beginning of the page. When the fax finished receiving data, Sandrine tore the page from the machine and turned it so that they could read it better.

"So... what now?" Asked Mich after reading the article.

"Now, we are at war," Sirius replied, his face deadly serious.

***

The rest of the morning went by in a flash. Sandrine and Mich had called the others so that they could read the article too. Soon all were preparing to leave and warn their friends. A war between wizards didn't necessarily affect the ashanriis, but last time Voldemort had tried to conquer the wizarding world he had allied with the enemies of the ashanriis and they had had to fight too. Sandrine knew that too well...

Her mother had died defending the Sand Castle from the attack of hundreds of werewolves, almost all of them transforming for the first time in the monsters they were. During the previous months, there had been lots of attacks on muggles by werewolves every full moon, but after the bite, the cursed muggles would disappear, whole families sometimes. Nobody knew where they went and nobody really searched for them. Ashanriis and wizards had more important matters in mind at the time. But that night, under the terrible full moon, the dansarines had known. It was too late. The castle had been taken. Three thousand nine hundred forty-seven dansarines died that night only at the Sand Castle's doors. Many thousands more all around France. Only a young girl had miraculously survived in the Castle: Sandrine.

Nobody could be sure, but after the killings, some old dansarines suspected that Voldemort had been behind the attacks. He didn't want to take over only the wizarding world, he wanted to conquer the whole magical world. The ashanriis couldn't ignore Voldemort's advances this time. They had to get ready for the imminent war.

They soon left, a small suitcase in one hand, just in case they couldn't return for the night. Sandrine hugged Sirius like a brother, her eyes shining with tears, her head not even reaching his chin.

"You'll probably be gone when I come back. Good luck, Sirius, and take care," she said. And then reached out to kiss his cheek, turned and left before Sirius could say a word.

Only Edvard remained in the flat with Sirius. He was going to be there just in case some friends had heard the news and tried to contact them before the others reached them. But the hours went by and Edvard and Sirius were still alone. Nobody had tried to contact them. Maybe the news hadn't reached the ashanriis yet.

None of them was in a talkative mood, which was strange enough, specially in Edvard's case, so after lunch, they just turned on the TV and tried to concentrate in a film. Sirius was more relaxed, specially when there were advertisements. He really loved them. There were a lot about cleaning products, and in them you could see muggle homes as dirty as if a horde of hippogriffs lived there. 'Merlin, were the muggles dirty!' Sirius marvelled. 'Will the Dursley's home be like that?' he wondered, worried about Harry's wellbeing. 

Suddenly, they felt a strange change in the atmosphere, as if the temperature had gone up a few degrees in just a few seconds. Sirius was going to ask Edvard if he had noticed it too, but then he realised the other man was standing, his wand ready in his hand.

"What..." Sirius started to say, but was cut off immediately as a huge flame suddenly appeared in the middle of the room. It was completely red, and was growing very fast, the fire leaping at the furniture around it, that surprisingly enough didn't burn.

"It's ok," Edvard told him. "Just come here and do nothing."

Sirius obeyed him, but readied his wand all the same, just in case.

After a while, the flames started to extinguish, as if there was no air in the room that could nourish them, and then Sirius' eyes almost popped out of his face when he saw that, where the flames had been a moment ago, there were two kids standing. One of them must have been around ten years old, the other was much younger, maybe three or four. They had oriental features and looked absolutely terrified. Edvard was by their side at once, and embraced them lovingly.

"Yi, Gao! What's the matter, what's going on?"

The older kid spoke, with tears in his eyes now:

"Giants! They took us by surprise! We were at home. Mum is alone, she just had time enough to send us here. They will kill her, you have to help her!"

"Giants?" Edvard and Sirius were both shocked, but for different reasons.

"Giants in Belfast?" Sirius asked bewildered, looking out of the balcony, as if expecting a giant to appear out of nowhere any moment.

Edvard could have laughed when he saw the wizard's face if it weren't because the situation was anything but funny.

"No, not here," he said earnestly. "Listen, Sirius, I have to go. Look after the kids, they will behave very well, I'm sure of that. I have to go and find the girls. If the giants are attacking the fuocciri, they might be in danger too. Just don't leave the flat whatever happens. You are all safe here. Yamiko's fire will have activated the magical protections on the flat."

Edvard was as white as the wall, but he looked very determined too. After speaking to Sirius, he turned to the kids again:

"Yi, don't worry, everything will be ok. I'm going to look for your mamrais. Your mother will be fine. Just wait here and do everything my friend Sirius tells you and behave yourselves, ok?"

"But mum is alone!" The boy cried.

"I know, Yi, but your mother is the best fuocciri warrior there is. She will be ok. Your mamrais will help her, don't worry. Everything is gonna be ok."

Yi didn't look too convinced, but nodded all the same. Edvard was gone in a flash, and Sirius was suddenly standing there, with two kids whose mother was probably already dead and a feeling of emptiness in his stomach.

***

At around half past five, Sha-adi came running into the flat. She went straight for the kids, so Sirius supposed that Edvard had warned her at some point. The kids run to her open arms and started crying once more.

Sirius had never had much experience babysitting children, but he was quite proud of himself. He had been doing a good job so far, though Sha-adi might not realise it now that the kids were crying again. He had approached them cautiously when Edvard left, because he didn't want to scare them. He had just patted them briefly and then had taken them by the hand and brought them to the sofa where he had been sitting a moment ago. The TV was still on, but the kids didn't seem to care. They were too worried about their mother.

At the beginning there had been some tension in the air, and Sirius was so stressed, that he did the only thing he could think of: he turned into his animagus form. The children had stared at first, but the younger one's face had immediately lighted. Sirius could feel that he liked dogs a lot, and HE could be a very handsome dog if he wanted to. Slowly, Gao had approached the big black dog that had just appeared in front of them, under the close inspection on his older brother, who looked quite interested as well. When they had been both close enough to the enormous dog, they had patted him cautiously at first, but then the younger of the two had just thrown himself at Padfoot's neck and started laughing. The older one had smiled a bit at his brother's evident happiness, but had gone back to the sofa and just looked approvingly from there at Sirius' patient endurance of his little brother's tortures. When Padfoot couldn't stand any more the pain of having his tail almost ripped from his body, he turned again into a man, but the trick had been done: the small child had forgotten about the previous danger and her mother's terrible fate, and was still smiling at him.

Sirius had brought then the two boys to the kitchen and made them some hot milk and a sandwich. The small one ate it all, the older one just drank the milk. So Sirius started a small conversation with him, asking him his name, his age, her mother's name and some other questions. The more they talked, the more relaxed the child seemed to be, and after a while Sirius had even learned some interesting things. For instance, that this 'Yamiko' Edvard had mentioned was the mother of the two children, that 'mamrai' was the ashanrii term for 'godmother', and that the godmothers Edvard had talked about were none others than Sandrine and Amanda themselves. So now he knew that Edvard had gone in search of them, hoping that they could help Yamiko. Poor woman. All alone fighting Merlin knew how many giants by herself. She didn't stand a chance. She was probably already dead, but Sirius had tried to reassure the children, saying that her mother was a very good warrior and would be with them soon. At these words, Yi, the older child, had looked surprised and asked: 

"Do you know my mother, Sir?"

Sirius had shifted guiltily in his chair at this. He had been caught in an downright lie. How could he know that Yi's mother was a very good warrior if he didn't know her? After a couple of seconds, he just muttered:

"Well, not really... But I've heard A LOT about her."

That was a huge lie as well, of course. He hadn't even heard her name before, but he hoped Yi would be satisfied with his answer. It seemed, though, today wasn't his lucky day, because Yi had opened his lips to ask another question. Just then Sirius' luck had changed all of a sudden, and Sha-adi had come running into the kitchen.

And now here they were. Sha-adi checking if the children were hurt and Sirius watching with contempt. If the children had been hurt, he would have healed them by now. What was Sha-adi thinking?

Just then Amanda came running into the flat. Gao immediately run to her and she knelt, her arms open.

"Mamrai Di!" The child shouted delighted, and put his tiny arms around Amanda's neck.

The girl kissed Gao and then Yi repeatedly, and then kissed Sha-adi too. For a moment, Sirius forgot all about Voldemort or anything else as he watched Amanda approach him and kiss him too. A silly smile appeared in Sirius' face, and he looked quite stupid for a while, until he shook himself out of his reverie and turned his attention to what Amanda was saying.

"Your mummy is ok, boys, mamrai Sandrine went to your house and she had already left." And without even breathing, Amanda turned to Sha-adi: "Take the children with you and go to Samako's house, Yamiko will probably be there. And be careful!" Sha-adi was going to complain, but Amanda didn't give her the chance. "I know some couples of giants are not an enemy worth of your abilities, Sha" she said, "but I don't need a demonstration either. Just try to contact the Sams and stay with them. I'll join you as soon as I can."

"What are you going to do, Amanda?" Sha-adi asked worried.

"I have to take Sirius to his friends. I should be with you soon enough." She said.

"Are we going to Hogwarts?" Sirius asked, and stood immediately, ready to leave.

"No. The Headmaster thinks it wouldn't be wise. We are going to your parents house. He will be there."

Amanda helped Sha-adi get the boys ready for the trip, and the moment they closed the door, she turned his attention to Sirius.

"The Headmaster told me where to find your parents house. If you are ready, we could leave now."

"I am," was the only thing Sirius said.

"Ok, then," Amanda smiled, "let's go, Mr. Black," and taking Sirius' arm, they both left the flat and started walking down the street.

"How are we getting there? Are we going to apparate?" Sirius asked, he wondered why everybody had left the flat as if they were muggles instead of apparating or disapparating to wherever they were going.

"We are taking a shortcut through an astral door," she announced, as if she had been just talking about the weather.

"An astral door?" Sirius was so stunned that he stopped in his tracks.

Amanda, her arm still linked with Sirius', was forced to stop too, but then pulled his arm so that he would keep walking. They seemed to be headed for a park just across the street.

"Yes, ashanriis use them all of the time, it's much safer than apparating." She explained in a casual tone.

"Amanda, are you mad or do you really think I'm that silly? Or maybe both?" Sirius asked a little bit annoyed.

"None," she said in a firm voice. "I really mean what I say. An astral door is the best way of getting from one place to another, it's both safe and fast, and there's no danger at all if you know where you are going." And she went on walking very fast, pulling Sirius along. They were now surrounded by high green trees.

"Amanda," Sirius said exasperated, "astral doors are VERY dangerous. We could be trapped for eternity in a limbo if we cannot find the exit door."

Now it was Amanda's turn to stop walking mid-step. She let go of Sirius' arm, brought her hands to her hips and turned to look Sirius in the eye, an eyebrow raised and her nose lifted in mock offence. "You say that as if spending eternity with me was the worst thing that could happen to you," she said.

Sirius was so shocked that he just stood there, his mouth agape, his eyes round as saucers. Before he could react, Amanda smiled a very wicked smile and pushed him. Caught by surprise, he lost balance and fell backwards, realising too late that Amanda had pushed him right through the astral door.

*****

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Thanks for the reviews!

Thanks all for reading and reviewing!

I'm afraid Chapter 7 is turning out to be a very tricky one. In it we finally reach the time when OotP ends, so from Chapter 8 I'll be more free to use Rowling's characters. Until now I've just had to try and arrange the plot in a way that would fit with the end of OotP, and I must admit it's been much more difficult than I thought it would be. That's why this chapter's title matches the last chapter's in OotP. I'm going on holidays next Sunday, so I'll try to update before leaving, but I cannot promise it, sorry! I'll be back next Thursday, though, so you won't have to wait long anyway.

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Kady Rilla Wholi: No, it wasn't Edvard, but you were quite close. I'll explain about the book in a later chapter.

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Topaz Waters: Thanks! I'll go back and fix chapters 1 and 2 when I come back next week. ;-) Yes, as you see, McGonagall's 'accident' was really the auror's attack when she tried to defend Hagrid.

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amber eyed wolf: Thanks! I'm glad you like my girls. ;-)

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Knight Samar: 'Ashanrii' is the ancient term that the first ashanriis used to describe themselves. In English it could be translated as 'fallen from the stars', or something like that. When they started to mix with muggles all over the world, they started to speak the languages of the muggles they lived with, so as not to attract attention to themselves. Some centuries afterwards, the ashanrii language died, but the ashanriis still use some ancient terms when they speak between themselves, like 'mamrai', in this chapter.

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hermionegreen: Thanks! Amanda is a jilguerei, not a dansarine, so she hasn't a problem with werewolves, which doesn't mean that she likes them either. As she is a jilguerei, though, she cannot recognise werewolves straight away, so unless Moony tells her - which I doubt he will - she won't know that he is a werewolf. But you are right, Sandrine and Moony are bound to meet sooner or later, so let's hope everything turns out ok.

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Kabbebalers: Here it is. I hope you liked it. ;-)


	7. Grimmauld Place

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Disclaimer: The characters that look familiar to you belong to J. K. Rowling. The ones you cannot find in any of her books are mine. I don't intend to make any money out of this. I'm just having some fun.

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Grimmauld Place

The afternoon was reaching its climax when someone knocked on the door. Remus Lupin tore his tired eyes from the book he was trying to read. Since Sirius' death, he just couldn't concentrate properly on things. He looked at the clock on the mantelpiece, it said 'No time for visits'. Remus couldn't agree more with it, he'd much rather be alone. But it might be important, so he went to answer the door anyway. He took his wand, just in case, and then opened the door cautiously... and stared at Albus Dumbledore. What was he doing here?

"Is something wrong?" Lupin asked immediately. Dumbledore didn't usually pay courtesy visits without a reason.

"I have some very surprising news for you, Remus, but don't worry, I think you're gonna like them for once," the old man said, a sad smile on his tired face.

Remus stood aside so that Dumbledore could come in and offered him some tea. Once they were comfortably seated, a smoking cup in their hands, Dumbledore cleared his throat and looked Lupin in the eye.

"I know this is going to sound unbelievable to you, Remus, and I must admit I had difficulty in believing it myself at first, but the source of my information is very reliable, so, although I don't have a direct proof yet, I believe it."

Remus nodded to show he understood.

"Remus," the Headmaster continued carefully, trying to choose the words that would lessen the shock of the news he was bringing; when he found none, he just said it straight away, "Sirius is alive."

Remus' cup fell from his hands. It was lucky he was sitting on the sofa, because he was sure his legs wouldn't have supported him. His eyes were rounded with shock, his lips slightly parted, as if he wanted to say something but couldn't.

"I know," Dumbledore said, "it's difficult to believe, but although I haven't seen him yet, I know he is alive. An ashanrii saved him. It seems she had some kind of grudge against Bellatrix and performed a ritual some years ago to stop her from hurting or killing someone. Sirius was the first she had to help. Probably there will be a long list, now that Bellatrix is free and has joined Voldemort again. Poor girl! But then, again, we must be grateful that she hated Bellatrix so much, because that's the reason Sirius Black is now alive, when he would have normally been dead."

Remus' mind was reeling. Ashanriis? Come on! They didn't even exist, did they? But he knew very well that Albus Dumbledore wouldn't joke about something like that, so he had to accept his words and hope that they were truth, that Sirius was alive, that he hadn't lost the last of his friends, his only friend. And with acceptance came the tears. He started shaking like a little boy, trying to control himself, but couldn't. The emotions running through his body were too strong. Sirius was alive, ALIVE! He covered his face with his hands and cried unashamed, while Dumbledore looked at the flames in the fireplace and tried to control his own shattered emotions.

After some time, Remus seemed to gain some control over himself. He wiped his eyes and looked at Dumbledore.

"What now?" He asked.

"I'm meeting Sirius this evening at Grimmauld Place. I didn't want him to come to Hogwarts. If someone saw him, imagine the chaos that would ensue."

Remus could only imagine. "Can I be there?" He asked hopefully.

"You can, but I want to talk to him first. The ashanriis hadn't met Sirius before. I want to make sure it's really him and not an impostor. We can never be too careful. You can wait in your room there, and when I finish talking with him, I'll call you and you can come down and greet Sirius yourself."

"Ok, that's fine with me." The young wizard said, he wasn't going to complain. He didn't care if he had to wait ten or fifteen minutes more. If he could see Sirius in a few hours, that was fine with him. "What about Harry? Does he know?"

"No," Dumbledore answered, "I wanted to make sure first that Sirius was alive. I'll talk to him tomorrow morning. I thought it would be too much for him if it turned out there had been a mistake and the man I'm going to meet this evening isn't Sirius Black. I don't know either how this uncommon experience has affected Sirius, he might be a little bit changed." The Headmaster sipped some cold tea. "I had thought of delaying my visit to you too, but then I thought you had a right to know. Sirius and you have been friends for so long, though you have been apart most of the time. You're and adult, and thus stronger, too. And I must admit I'm quite confident that the man the ashanriis talked about was indeed Sirius. Ashanriis are very clever. It's not as if they would make such mistakes lightly. The description they gave of the man they have rescued matches Sirius' as well, so, in my opinion, there's very little margin for error."

Remus just nodded. He was glad Dumbledore had told him first. This way he would have a chance to talk to Sirius and then help prepare Harry for the news.

Dumbledore left his empty cup on the table with a clatter that awoke Remus from his musings.

"Shall we go, then?" The old wizard asked. "There's some more things I want to talk to you about, but we can finish our conversation at Grimmauld Place."

"Ok, I'm ready," Remus said with determination and stood.

"Mmmm," the Headmaster started, "Remus, maybe you should wash your face first."

"Oh, right!" Lupin agreed, his face a little bit red with embarrassment. It wasn't a good idea to welcome Sirius back with a tearstained face.

***

A few hours afterwards, Albus Dumbledore and Remus Lupin were waiting in Grimmauld Place. They had been waiting for quite a long time now. When there were only a few minutes left to the appointed meeting time, Remus had gone up to the room he stayed in when he was at headquarters, but after some time, as Sirius hadn't arrived yet, the Headmaster had come searching for him and had asked him to wait downstairs with him. It was silly to be alone in that big house and be in different rooms. It was obvious that something had delayed Amanda and Sirius, so at least they could chat while they waited.

And they waited and waited and waited.

Sirius didn't come.

***

Sirius laid on a white foggy floor, a single door in front of him with carved signs all around it. Amanda came a second later through it, though in a much more dignified manner.

"See? It's not so bad." She said half-laughing. "You even look like you've made yourself comfortable."

"Listen," Sirius stood in a flash, his face contorted with anger, "that was totally uncalled for. I didn't want to take an astral door and I won't do it. You might not be worried about becoming an errant spirit for eternity, but I can assure you that 12 years of torment in Azkaban and one death have been enough for me, thank you very much. If you don't mind, I'm just going back through that door."

Sirius pushed Amanda aside, but when the girl moved, he realised with a panic that the door they had come trough wasn't there any more. He turned to Amanda, who was standing beside him, with her arms crossed and not looking very happy herself.

"Well?" She inquired, her left eyebrow higher than the right one. "Has Mr. I-do-what-I-want finished with his childish complains or are we going to stay here much longer?"

Sirius didn't answer, he just passed his fingers through his hair and shook his head in despair. He didn't like this one bit. As he remained silent, Amanda went on with her tirade:

"I'm very sorry but you must realise that you are in my world now. I can take care of myself and I can certainly take care of someone else. I don't think you have any reason to complain so far about the way Sandrine or any of us has been treating you, so the least I expect from you is a little bit of _trust_. I've done this thousands of times. Astral doors are _not_ dangerous, you just have to know where you are going, and I happen to know it. So if you'll be so kind as to follow me, Mr. Black, then maybe we can go on and reach our destiny in a moment. Of course, if you'd rather, we could stay here while our friends worry about us."

She uncrossed her arms, turned and started walking very fast. Sirius turned too and followed her, he was already there and couldn't leave on his own, wizards didn't normally use astral doors. He'd have to follow her, but Amanda was very wrong if she thought the matter was closed. He'd make sure that she knew Sirius Black didn't like this kind of tricks.

At the beginning, Sirius could see nothing besides Amanda. They were surrounded by white misty walls which seemed to be always at the same distance from them, it didn't matter that they were moving. Amanda stopped abruptly, and stood there looking in front of her as if there was something to see. Sirius strained his eyes, but couldn't see a thing, just white walls. And then they started to appear: doors. In front of them, rows and rows of doors were appearing out of nowhere. They all looked the same. Sirius couldn't have picked one for all of his gold in Gringotts.

"This way," Amanda whispered, and started walking again.

They went to the third row of doors. Sirius felt as if in the middle of a muggle graveyard, surrounded by high tombstones. But they weren't tombstones, they were doors, and one of them was going to take him to Grimmauld Place, or so he hoped. Amanda reached for a doorknob without a second of hesitation.

"Wait! Are you sure this is the right one? I don't feel like getting into Malfoy Manor." Sirius inquired peevishly.

Amanda took her hand from the knob and turned to look at Sirius, anger in her pretty face. "Look! I need to concentrate properly in what I'm doing, right? So if you want to see your friends soon, SHUT UP!" The nerve of the man! Who did he think he was? Mr. Perfect? She turned again to the door and gasped. It had disappeared. "Look what you've done!"

"What have I done?" Sirius asked with contempt.

"You've made us too late. The door has sealed itself. We'll have to wait now until someone else comes in here through the same astral door."

"You mean we cannot get out?" Sirius asked with fear in his voice.

"No, we can _not_. Once in here you are supposed to go for the door you are searching for straight away. We've lost precious time trying to overcome your silly insecurities, and now we are stuck here until someone else comes in."

"Ha! I told you, didn't I?" Sirius shouted triumphantly. "I told you astral doors are dangerous. I told you we could end up stuck here. But did you listen? No, of course not! The all-so-powerful-ashanrii always knows best, doesn't she?"

"I told you, Sirius," Amanda answered angrily. "I've done this _thousands_ of times, and this is the first time I'm stuck. We would be already in Grimmauld Place if you hadn't broken my concentration. I had already found the door."

"Of course, it is my fault, isn't it? Sorry, you oh-never-commits-a-mistake-goddess." He said, and bowed mockingly.

Amanda felt like slapping the man, but made an effort to control herself. 

"So, how long are we going to have to wait, now? Days, months, YEARS?" Sirius shouted.

"You never know," the girl answered warily. "It depends on how long it will take for someone else to take the same incoming door again."

"Fine! Just marvellous!" Sirius commented ironically.

Amanda was going to retaliate, but just then she felt it, someone was coming in. She lifted a finger to Sirius' lips, she had to concentrate. She couldn't afford losing the exit door again. Only the Princesses knew how long they had been there already. A minute in the astral realm could be a whole lifetime in the human world. Suddenly the doors started to appear again in front of them, but Amanda didn't choose the same one this time. "Let's go," she said, and took Sirius' hand to make sure he was following her. She stopped again a few rows of doors further down, and reached for the first door's knob. Sirius wanted to ask her if she was sure this time that that was the right door, but checked himself in time. It was obvious she was anyway, because through the open door he could see the kitchen at his parents house.

"Gentlemen first," she said mockingly, and stepped aside to let Sirius cross the door first.

They stepped inside the kitchen and the door immediately disappeared behind them.

"Hello?" They called, but nobody answered.

Sirius went to inspect the rest of the house, his wand ready, just in case he encountered someone who didn't know about his 'resurrection' and had to defend himself. But there was no one.

When he went back to the kitchen, Amanda was sitting comfortably at the table, a newspaper on her hands.

"We are late," she said when Sirius came back from his inspection.

"What do you mean we are late? How late are we?" The wizard asked annoyed.

"A week," Amanda said, and shove the newspaper at Sirius, so he could see the date for himself.

Sirius was going to ask how could it be that they were a week late when it had felt as if they had waited only five minutes for the astral doors to reappear, but then they heard the wards going down. He turned and went to the house door.

"Wait!" Amanda tried to stop him, but he was already gone.

The door opened, and a girl with pink hair and muggle clothes entered the house.

"Nymphadora!" Sirius shouted delighted.

The girl turned around, her wand ready.

"Who are you?" She asked, her voice trembling, but her hand steady. "Why do you look like my mother's cousin? How did you get in?"

Sirius realised his mistake. It was obvious nobody had told Tonks that he was alive.

"Listen, Tonks, I'm him. I mean... I am me. I mean... Sirius, I am Sirius Black, I've come back from the dead, Tonks." Sirius managed to say, and then flashed her his characteristic smile.

Not a very convincing explanation, though. Tonks was going to stun him when she felt the magic run through her body. She was paralysed, she couldn't even blink.

"Tonks?" Sirius asked concerned.

"I paralysed her," Amanda said from the kitchen's door.

"You WHAT?" Sirius was very angry now.

"I PARALYSED HER, because it was obvious that she was going to attack you. Though I'm not sure why I didn't leave you alone and just went back to my friends." She answered.

"PITY YOU DIDN'T," Sirius was beside himself with fury now.

Amanda and him were staring daggers at each other when the door opened once more. This time it was a man with brown hair flecked with grey. Lupin. He took in the scene in front of him: Tonks looked frozen in place, Sirius was in front of him, slightly turned to his right, where there was a very beautiful and angry-looking girl. Before any of the others could react, he had his wand ready, but didn't attack.

"Sirius?" He asked cautiously.

"Remus! It's me! Listen, you've got to believe me. I didn't die! Well... I died, but then came back to life again. I'm not an impostor. Dumbledore knows. You've got to believe me!" Sirius implored with some desperation in his voice.

Remus raised his left hand to make him shut up. "Who is her?" he asked.

"Amanda Ming. She's an ashanrii. She brought me here. We took an astral door and got stuck, that's why we were late. We..."

Sirius stopped talking. Lupin had put his wand back in his sleeve and in two long strides was embracing him. Sirius felt as if his bones were going to break. 'Moony needs to control his strength a bit better,' he thought, but returned the embrace gladly.

"Merlin, Sirius! If you do anything stupid again, I'm gonna kill you myself, and I'm gonna make sure no ashanrii, wizard or deity can save you." Remus said, his voice faltering with the emotion of seeing his friend again.

"You do that," Sirius whispered, "you do that, Moony."

Seeing everything seemed to be all right, Amanda released Tonks, who had been able to hear and see everything and now fell to her knees, her left hand covering her mouth, tears streaming from her eyes.

Sirius released himself from Remus' hold and, kneeling in front of her, hugged her fiercely. "It's ok," he whispered, "I'm fine, I'm fine."

"How...?" She tried to speak.

"Shhhh," Sirius calmed her, "don't worry, I'll explain everything. Just calm yourself, Nymphadora..."

"It's TONKS!" The girl shouted hysterically. This was too much for her.

Meanwhile, Remus had approached Amanda and they had shaken hands.

"Are you the one who saved him?" Remus asked awkwardly.

"No," Amanda admitted, "I just brought him here. A friend of mine did it, but she couldn't come."

"I see..." Remus said thoughtfully, "well, thank you anyway for everything, and please, make sure to thank your friend for me too. I wish I could thank her myself."

"Maybe you will able to do it. Now that Voldemort is back, we might have to meet now and then, to co-ordinate the defence."

Remus nodded smiling. "That would be great." Then a thought came to him. "What took you so long anyway?"

"Oh!" Amanda looked at the floor. "We had a kind of... disagreement, and we lost the exit astral door, so we had to wait until someone else used the same incoming door we had taken. We were lucky we only had to wait a week." She commented with a sigh of relieve.

"I see," Remus smiled, although he wasn't sure if he had understood the girl properly. He didn't know much about astral doors. Anyway, what did a week matter when in the end he had Sirius back again?

Lupin turned to Sirius and Tonks, who were still kneeling on the floor. "I think we need something strong. If I'm not mistaken, there's still some firewhisky in the cupboard under the sink. Come on, you two, you need it much more than Amanda or myself."

Sirius nodded tearfully from the floor, let go of Tonks and then helped her stand. The girl was still crying, the shock of recovering the only member of her family who didn't despise her was too much for her.

After five rounds of firewhisky, everybody was feeling much more relaxed. Even Sirius and Amanda were joking again with each other, their previous disagreements forgotten.

"Maybe we should tell Dumbledore," Lupin finally said.

"Yeah," Amanda agreed. She tried to say something else, but her tongue felt strangely heavy in her mouth and she couldn't let the words out.

"You do that," Sirius told Remus, "you are the only one still sober enough."

Remus nodded, but immediately regretted it, because everything started to spin around him. When the kitchen settled itself again, he slowly approached the fireplace and threw some powder into the fire, then said as clearly as he could: "Albus Dumbledore, Hogwart's School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."

Dumbledore's head appeared immediately between the flames in the fireplace.

"What is it Remus? Is there something wrong?" He asked worried.

"No," Remus said, shaking his head - which he immediately regretted again. "It's just that Sirius finally decided to turn up. An ashanrii is here, too, I think her name is Amanda."

"Are they ok?"

"Oh, yeah..."

At that moment, a loud thud was heard from behind Moony. He turned slowly. Tonks' head had hit the kitchen table, she was going to have a big blue bruise in her face the next day. Lupin turned again to the fire.

"Yeah, they are ok," he went on saying. "We've been... celebrating Sirius' return," the young wizard admitted a little bit ashamed.

Dumbledore smiled widely from the fireplace. "That's ok," he said, "I doubt we will have any better reasons to celebrate in the near future. I'll go and find Professor McGonagall, and then we'll both come to Grimmauld Place. I assume that's where you are, right?"

"Yes," Remus confirmed, without nodding this time though.

"Ok, see you in a minute, then," Dumbledore said, and disappeared from the fire.

Remus raised slowly from the floor and returned to the kitchen table.

"Time for some coffee," he announced, and started putting the cups on the table. He didn't dare to use his wand, he didn't want the cups to end up on top of the fridge or in some other uncommon place.

His companions seemed to need the coffee very much, or maybe even something stronger. Pity they didn't have any anti-hangover potions at headquarters, Remus thought, and a tiny smile lightened his face. As far as the young wizard could remember, this was the first time that he could feel the start of a very bad headache and still go on smiling.

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Thanks for the reviews!

Thanks all for reading and reviewing!

Well, finally home, both, Sirius and myself. Let me know what you think of Remus and Tonks' reactions. Chapter 8 is almost ready, I'll try to post it today or tomorrow, as a compensation for your patience during my short holidays. ;-) Harry, Hermione, Ron, Ginny and many other familiar characters will be back in Chapter 9, which I'm writing right now.

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Kady Rilla Wholi: Thank you for your comments. I've already corrected Chapter 6. I hope you liked this chapter too.

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hermionegreen: I'm glad you think Sirius was wonderful with the children, and I can tell you that a certain character who we are gonna meet in later chapters is gonna agree with you. ;-)

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Kabbebalers: Thanks! I had some difficulty as well to post the first chapter. Once you get familiar with FFnet is not so difficult though, so go on trying to post your fic. ;-)

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K-Black: Thanks, I hope you liked this chapter too.

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I-love-sirius73: Thanks! Well, you'll have to wait a bit to see how the ashanriis react when they discover Remus is a werewolf, because you can be sure they are gonna know it sooner or later. We'll see Harry in Chapter 9, but I'm not sure yet if he'll meet Sirius in it or in Chapter 10, depends on how long Chapter 9 turns out to be.

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Knight Samar: Well, Albus Dumbledore obviously knows 'everything'. ;-) He knew the ashanriis were real, because he met them in Grindewald's times. And he had met Amanda, Sandrine and Sha-adi too when they were younger. He's gonna meet many other ashanriis, though, because he's very much interested in winning them over as allies, that's really what this story is about, you know, 'finding allies'. Let's wish him luck!


	8. Helloes and Goodbyes

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Disclaimer: The characters that look familiar to you belong to J. K. Rowling. The ones you cannot find in any of her books are mine. I don't intend to make any money out of this. I'm just having some fun.

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Helloes and goodbyes

Albus Dumbledore and Minerva McGonagall arrived only a few minutes afterwards at Grimmauld Place. Definitely not time enough to allow the coffee win over the effects of the firewhisky. When they entered the kitchen, Tonks was still unconscious, her head lying on the table. Sirius and Amanda had very silly smiles on their faces and it was obvious that they had trouble focusing their gazes on the newcomers. Remus was the only one sober enough to stand and greet them. Albus' eyes twinkled, amused at the sight in front of him. McGonagall's narrowed dangerously and fixed on her niece without pity.

"Amanda! I expected better from you!" She went to the girl's side and stood there, her hands on her hips, her eyes scrutinising the table and then the girl's face.

"We only had some rounds..." Remus tried to soften the older witch.

"How many?" She asked, turning her angry stare at him.

"Er... must have been around four or five, no more than that. Promise." He said taking his right hand to his heart.

Professor McGonagall's eyes almost popped out of her face, spectacles on and all. "What? Four or five _rounds_?" She asked indignantly.

"I'm sorry, auntie..." Amanda managed to say.

"Minerva..." Albus tried to calm his friend.

"What am I gonna do with you? Merlin! Four or five _rounds_, Amanda? A McGonagall is supposed to be able to drink four or five _bottles_! Are you never going to learn to drink as a McGonagall should?"

Albus, Remus, Sirius and Tonks - who had awaken with the shouting - all looked at the strict Professor McGonagall with disbelief. They had thought she was angry because her niece had been drinking, not because she hadn't been drinking _enough_. Amanda, on the other hand, didn't look surprised at all. She knew her aunt too well. It wasn't the first time Minerva McGonagall had complained to her niece for her lack of a proper 'McGonagall stomach', as she would call it.

"Auntie, I've improved my resistance of wine and liquors, but firewhisky is really too strong for me. I've tried to reach your standards, but you know it'll never be. Remember the first time? I got dizzy by only _smelling_ the whisky. Now, at least, I can drink it. To some extent, that is." Amanda sounded like a little girl trying to defend herself. Sirius, who had always seen in her a very self-assured and confident woman, had trouble believing this could be the same Amanda Ming.

"Ok, ok," Professor McGonagall said, a little bit exasperated. Then she started to rummage in a bag she was carrying and took out four small bottles. "Our Potions Master gave us these remedies. You should be ok in a moment. Drink it now." She proceeded to hand a bottle to each of them.

Amanda and Tonks started opening the bottle, but Remus and Sirius looked at it suspiciously.

"Snivellus gave you this?" Sirius asked. "Did you tell him it was for us?"

"SIRIUS BLACK!" McGonagall roared. "If you ever as much as suggest that Professor Snape is trying to poison another member of the Order, I'm gonna sit you in my lap and give you such a biting as you've never had in your life!"

That was convincing enough for Remus, who opened the bottle and swallowed its contents in a second. His friend, though, looked still suspiciously at the liquid inside the bottle.

"Sirius, you must really learn to trust Severus," the Headmaster said a little bit annoyed. "I guess Remus and Tonks didn't have time to tell you, with this little celebration going on, but it was he who warned us all that Harry had left Hogwarts. Harry could be in Voldemort's hands or even dead by now if it weren't for Severus' prompt reaction." The Headmaster paused here, and then added in a more cheerful voice. "And speaking of being dead or alive... welcome back!" The old wizard offered Sirius his hand, and then embraced him as a father. Professor McGonagall approached the young man too, and kissed him profusely. Sirius was so shocked that he thought he'd much rather she had given him the biting she had mentioned a few seconds before.

Once all of them were again in control of their senses, Dumbledore asked Remus to help Tonks get upstairs and have some rest, she had been in a worse condition than the rest of them, and the potion would take a little bit longer to make her feel completely recovered. When the young wizard was going out, holding Tonks' left arm with his right hand, Dumbledore gave him a package no one had realised he was carrying until then. "I thought you might find these useful. I'm sure you'll want to start getting ready as soon as possible."

Remus smiled and took the package with his left hand. "Thanks! I really appreciate it." Then went on walking out of the kitchen and upstairs.

"And Remus," the Headmaster called him again, "you know what I would like you to do in a couple of hours, don't you? The little trip we talked about last week..."

Remus nodded. "Sure, Headmaster, I know what you mean. I'll leave when the sun sets."

"Fine," Dumbledore responded. "And please, before leaving, tell Tonks what we expect her to do."

Tonks looked quizzically at them, but said nothing, and just followed Remus out of the kitchen.

"Amanda, dear, now that you are more sober, there is something I wanted to talk to you about. Maybe we could go upstairs." Professor McGonagall said, and looked meaningfully at her niece.

Amanda rolled her eyes. If the Headmaster wanted to talk to Sirius alone, they could just say it, no need to look for silly excuses, but she didn't complain and obeyed her aunt.

"Amanda!" Dumbledore called her. She turned to him from the kitchen's door. "Thank you," he said with a smile.

"You're welcome, Headmaster," the girl said, and then closed the door after her.

"Nice girl," Dumbledore commented, his eyes twinkling, but Sirius just grunted his agreement. Now that he wasn't drunk any more, he remembered again their little trip on the astral world and he wasn't happy about it. He hadn't forgiven her yet.

Seeing the young wizard wasn't in a mood for small-talk, Dumbledore signalled a chair and then said "Please, make yourself at home" with a very amused face.

Sirius took a sit in front of his old professor and then Dumbledore turned to more serious matters.

"First of all, let me congratulate you on having such good friends. I'm sure you realise how lucky you are to be with us again. And we are very lucky to have you back too, of course," Dumbledore added as an afterthought. Sirius just smiled, so the Headmaster went on. "I guess your last experience was too much of a shock to let you realise, but your encounter with the ashanriis could turn out to be very good for our cause. I hope they won't try to remain neutral this time. They learned their lesson the hard way some years ago, and if we are lucky they will help us defeat Voldemort. With the ashanriis by our side, we have a fairly good chance of winning the war."

"And without them?" Sirius asked, a bit worried at Dumbledore's dejected tone.

"Without them, we might win it too, but the war will be much longer, and we'll loose many more lives."

Both remained silent for a moment, lost in their thoughts. Sirius was the first to speak, as a sudden thought came to him:

"But you would have contacted the ashanriis anyway, wouldn't you? I mean, Amanda is Professor McGonagall's niece."

Dumbledore looked surprised at Sirius' question.

"Didn't she tell you?"

Sirius shook his head.

"Well," Dumbledore started thoughtfully, "I can understand that she doesn't like talking about it, but I had thought that after so many years she would be over it." After a pause, Dumbledore went on: "Amanda was thrown away by the jilguereis when she was a very young girl. Her mother was accused of being one of the traitors who let the dortors in on the Ice Castle and thus caused the death of a monstrous number of ashanriis, not only at the Castle, but also all over the world. That was the first attack of a long series of killings."

Sirius was trying to take in this information.

"So?" he asked doubtfully.

"So, Amanda is _persona non grata_, she is not allowed near any of the ashanrii Castles. She couldn't have brought us their help. In fact, if we had used her as a messenger to the ashanriis, they'd have probably closed their doors on our faces."

"Well, but what about the other girls? What about Sandrine, the girl who saved me? You know Sandrine, don't you?"

"Yes, yes..." Dumbledore nodded, "I met Sandrine once, many years ago. A very clever child. Very quiet too. She never accepted Amanda's expulsion. They have been friends almost all of their lives, since they were maybe seven or eight. Her friend's fall from grace was a great shock to her, specially after her mother's death and the many dead people she had seen in the previous months. So she decided she was ashamed of her kind, left the dansarines and went on living as a witch, before deciding that she'd rather have nothing to do with magic at all and moving on to live as a muggle."

"But she would have helped us? _They_ would, wouldn't they?" Sirius was very surprised at the Headmaster's scepticism.

Dumbledore looked thoughtful for a moment. "Yes, I believe they would have helped us anyway, but they would have been alone, the other ashanriis wouldn't have joined them."

"I don't get it. So you tell me that Amanda's mother was a traitor..."

"She was accused of being one," Dumbledore corrected him. "It's never been proved, and as she died and couldn't defend herself..."

"Ok," Sirius said, while passing his fingers nervously through his hair, "let's suppose that Amanda's mother was indeed a traitor, she was only a small girl then, what danger could she entail?"

"It's not a question of danger, it's a question of honour, Sirius. The ashanriis have a very strict code of honour. If one of them breaches the ashanrii laws, any of them, then the shame falls on all the ashanriis of her same blood. Amanda has to live with the guilt of her mother's mistakes. When disgrace strikes an ashanrii family, even the unborn generations will have to live with it."

There was another silence, and then Sirius spoke again.

"I'm sorry, but I still don't get it. You say that the ashanriis realised last time that Voldemort was a danger to them as well, so what did it matter where the information came from? Even if it was Amanda or Sandrine who delivered it, still they would know that Voldemort was back and would be ready, don't you think?"

Dumbledore sipped some more tea and looked thoughtfully at the table. After some time, he replied in a tired voice: "I don't know, Sirius. I honestly don't know. The ashanriis are a little bit like our beloved Minister. They live in their comfortable world and like to think that nothing can harm them. I'm not sure they would want to consider Voldemort as a real threat. They'd probably try to ignore it. After all, they blamed some ashanriis of the ultimate attack by their enemies. That their enemies had gained strength thanks to Voldemort didn't seem to matter much. And now many of the ashanriis that survived are very old or not properly trained to defend themselves, so they might just prefer to put their heads on the sand, as ostriches do, and hope that this time the danger will pass them by."

"So... How does my meeting the ashanriis change any of this?" Sirius asked.

Dumbledore smiled for the first time since this difficult conversation had started. "Well, as I told you, Amanda can't really help us. Well, she can, but not by putting us in contact with other ashanriis. Sandrine is a different matter, though. She would have probably been hard to convince. I doubt she would be willing to contact the dansarines again. But now she's seen for herself that the danger is real, she'll probably be willing to be our messenger to the ashanriis and spread the news of Voldemort's return."

Sirius nodded thoughtfully. "Well, in fact I think she's doing that already. Just before I left, Sandrine and some others left to deliver the news to their friends. Oh, and now that I think of it, the giants have attacked the fuocciri."

Dumbledore's head shot up at this. "What? Are you sure of that?"

"Well..." Sirius hesitated, and then explained all about the two children who had appeared surrounded by red fire at Sandrine's flat.

When he finished, Dumbledore crossed his fingers and rested his chin on them. "I had hoped I was wrong, but I'm afraid my worst fears have come true once more."

Sirius moved nervously in his seat, he didn't like the Headmaster's dejected tone.

"We have lost precious time. Fudge's blindness has allowed Voldemort time enough to regain his strength and contact some of his old allies. I knew the giants had accepted his proposals, but I didn't expect them to strike so soon, nor to attack the fuocciris. Of course, it might have been just coincidence, but if the giants are attacking the fuocciris on Voldemort's orders, as I suspect they are, then it means that Voldemort is far stronger than we'd like him to be. He's already deprived us of the help of the giants by winning their support, and now he is attacking the people who could be our most powerful allies. We can only hope that at least he doesn't win the jilguereis' support this time."

"What?" Sirius was nonplussed.

"Well, it wasn't openly known last time, but Voldemort married many of his Death Eaters to jilguereis. The ashanriis are very interested in the dark arts as well, you know. They only use them in extreme cases, though. Anyway, it seems that many old jilguereis thought Death Eaters would be very eligible husbands for their daughters, and so arranged their marriages." Sirius' eyebrows rose in surprise, so Dumbledore explained a little bit more. "Most ashanriis' marriages are still arranged nowadays, it's an old tradition. They are very conscious of things like purity of blood and all that nonsense. In fact, they agree with Voldemort in some points. Not that that's surprising either. Even our beloved Minister and his lapdog Umbridge agree with him to some extent..." Dumbledore's face turned gloomy. "Anyway, as I was saying, some jilguereis thought Voldemort and his followers had the right ideas, and that they would make wonderful husbands. So some marriages were arranged, we are not certain how many, but probably more than we'd like."

"What do we care who the jilguereis marry?" Sirius asked with contempt. "As far as I'm concerned, they could marry the devil if they wanted to."

"I'm afraid it's really important, Sirius. By marrying an ashanrii, the husband gets her magical protection. A special magical bond is created between them, which means that they could stand many of our curses or even escape. Look what Sandrine could do, she brought you back from death. Imagine if the jilguereis married to Death Eaters wanted to protect them, or even worse, avenge their imprisonment or death. We are not strong enough to fight them, Sirius, we are definitely not."

Sirius was finding it hard to control himself. He had had no doubt that the ashanriis would support them or, at least, remain neutral. But now it seemed that there was a big probability that they would join Voldemort. And what then?

Dumbledore seemed to read his mind, because just then he added: "Even if some jilguereis join Voldemort, not all of them will, and the other ashanriis definitely won't, I'm pretty sure of that. The fuocciris would rather kill themselves than marry a 'black worm', as they call the Death Eaters."

Sirius laughed a bit at that. A black worm? Not that 'Death Eater' sounded very nice, but 'black worm' sounded even worse.

The Headmaster stood then, and put his hand on Sirius shoulder. "Listen, Sirius. I really must go now. The news of the giants' attack changes a lot of things. I must act immediately. But before leaving, there's something I wanted to tell you." He paused here, and swallowed with difficulty before going on: "I know I haven't treated you as you deserved. I was trying to protect you, and all I got was your death. I know you are an excellent wizard, Sirius, and after you died, I realised how wrong I had been for trying to avoid the unavoidable. We are all bound to die sooner or later, and I'm sure you are not afraid of dying if you've had the chance to fight with us first. You're capable enough of defending yourself and others, and from now on I intend to treat you as any other member of the Order. You must still be careful, but I won't keep you confined in here. I want you to do some more active work for me."

Sirius' eyes were shiny with tears he was trying very hard to restrain. "Thanks, Headmaster, that's all I could ask for."

Dumbledore nodded. "Now don't get too excited. I'm not sure yet what I want you to do, though I have some ideas. Just try to relax and give me some time to think about it, ok?"

Sirius nodded.

"And while you wait..." Dumbledore sounded a bit amused now, and Sirius had the feeling he might not like what the old wizard was going to say. "I thought you might as well train yourself a bit. You were always very powerful, but I must admit I was very surprised when Bellatrix got you. You could do better than that when you were younger. Of course, I'm sure years of inactivity in Azkaban can rust the skills of the best of wizards... So I want you to be a good lad and take some lessons, just to recover your lighting reflexes." Dumbledore smiled very mischievously at that.

"Wait... Headmaster, I don't need any training..." Sirius started to say, but then another voice said from the kitchen door:

"Oh yeah, you do. And let me tell you this: I'm not gonna let you relax a single second."

Sirius looked at Dumbledore with his mouth open wide.

"Yes," Dumbledore smiled, trying hard to contain his laughter, "let me introduce you to our best Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor ever, who has been good enough to accept you as a pupil. Mr. Sirius Black, meet your new teacher, Professor Lupin."

Sirius groaned in despair. Moony was going to make him work hard as hell, he knew that.

"Mr. Black, I hope you'll be a good student," Remus said mockingly. "I must tell you that some other students are gonna join my classes too, and they are very good, so I hope you will be up to their level."

"Who?" Sirius inquired, his left eyebrow much further up than the right.

Dumbledore and Lupin looked at each other and smiled a bit to themselves.

"You'll know tomorrow morning," Remus announced, trying to sound as pompous as Lockhart. "Classes start at nine o'clock in the room at the end of the fourth floor. Bring your wand, some parchment and a quill. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go."

"Where?" Sirius asked immediately. He wanted to talk with Remus about the ashanriis.

"I'm afraid that's top secret information," Remus said, and then started laughing heartily at Sirius' angry look. Sirius' mood didn't improve much when the Headmaster decided to join Lupin and started laughing as well.

"Remus," Dumbledore said, still laughing, "I'll leave with you now, there're some things I need to do. Give me a second, I'll just go and find Professor McGonagall."

"Ok, I'll get Tonks," Lupin said, and left the room with the Headmaster.

After a few minutes, Sirius could hear people coming down the stairs, so he left the kitchen. They were all there, Dumbledore, Remus, McGonagall, Tonks and even Amanda, all ready to go.

"We'll be back in a moment, Sirius, so try not to get yourself killed in the meanwhile, ok?" Tonks said.

Sirius just nodded, a little bit annoyed, and then a thought occurred to him. "What about Harry?" He asked. "Can I write to him to tell him what has happened?"

"No," Dumbledore replied, "it would be too great a shock for him and he could try to do something rush, like coming here on his own or something of the sort. We'll take care of that. Don't worry, you'll see him pretty soon."

Sirius just nodded dejectedly. It was ok for them, they were leaving, and he was the one who had to remain alone once more.

"Buckbeak would be glad to see you, Sirius," Remus added, sensing his friend's sadness. "He's been pinning over you. It's as if he could sense you had died."

"Ok," Sirius sighed, "I guess I'll go and see him." Then he looked at Amanda, she looked very distressed and nervous, maybe Professor McGonagall had some bad news for her. He felt sorry for her and suddenly all of his previous anger disappeared. "Are you leaving too?" He asked her.

"Yes," she replied with a sad smile. "I have to meet Sha-adi and the others, they must be worried about me."

"Will I see you again soon?" He asked hopefully.

Amanda shook her head. "I don't think so, I'm gonna be very busy over the summer. Maybe in a couple of months, if everything goes well."

Sirius' heart jumped to his throat. "Ok," he said, and then approached her to shake hands with her, but when he reached her, Amanda ignored his hand and hugged him instead.

"Take care," she said, smiling at him.

"Yeah, you too," Sirius responded sadly.

She nodded, and then they all left Grimmauld Place and Sirius was, once more, alone.

*****

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Thanks for the reviews!

Thanks all for reading and reviewing!

More information about the ashanriis in this chapter, and some of it is gonna be very important in the future. ;-) Chapter 9 is gonna be very long, almost twice as long as this one, I think. I don't know, I might split it in two yet, I'm not sure. I can tell you something though, it's gonna be action-packed.

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Kady Rilla Wholi: I cannot tell you that. What do you think, will they? And I explained the reason why Sandrine hates Bellatrix in Chapter 1. ;-)

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K-Black: Thanks, I find writing funny scenes very difficult. What did you think of McGonagall in this chapter?

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Ann: Thanks! Well, I updated really soon this time. ;-) Chapter 9 is almost ready too, I'll try to have it up in a couple of days.


	9. Into Hiding

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Disclaimer: The characters that look familiar to you belong to J. K. Rowling. The ones you cannot find in any of her books are mine. I don't intend to make any money out of this. I'm just having some fun.

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Into Hiding

Number Four Privet Drive looked as boring as usual. No Dementors, no wizards apparating nor disapparating, no one flying on broomsticks, not even flying owls. Harry was looking out of the window in his room, wondering how long it would be until he received news from the wizarding world. He missed Sirius terribly, and wondered if Dumbledore would have let him stay at Grimmauld Place during the Summer if Sirius hadn't... No, he couldn't think of that, not now.

He heard someone knocking on the house door. He wondered if the Dursleys were expecting someone for dinner, they hadn't mentioned it. Hopefully it wouldn't be Aunt Marge...

Harry left the window and walked slowly downstairs. The visitor knocked once more, it seemed nobody had opened yet. He went for the door, but Aunt Petunia just came out of the kitchen, wiping her hands on a dishcloth. "Dinner is ready, go wash your hands!" She told him, surveying him with a revolted look, as if he was a slug.

Harry had already turned his back on the door, when he heard a familiar voice: "Good evening! My name is Remus Lupin, we met at King's Cross station."

"Professor Lupin!" Harry cried excited and went to the door.

Aunt Petunia didn't look as happy, though. "What do you want? We haven't done anything to the boy. Harry, tell him. Tell him we haven't hurt you." She said with a trembling voice, looking at Harry with trepidation.

Before Harry could speak, though, Remus Lupin rose his hands and said:

"I know, but something has happened, and there has been a change in plans. I'm here to take Harry away with me."

At this, both Petunia and Harry looked very happy. For once, they agreed on something.

"All right," Aunt Petunia said briskly, "you may come in and wait on the sitting-room while Harry gets his things."

Lupin followed Aunt Petunia inside the house and Harry run upstairs to get his trunk and Hedwig. He was back in a moment.

"Ready?" Lupin asked with a smile.

"Sure!" Harry replied, eager to go.

"Ok, let's go then."

The wizard offered Petunia his hand, which she took after some hesitation. At least this man looked perfectly normal, not like that decrepit wizard with an eye rolling in its socket.

Lupin opened the door and froze on the doorway. He looked around and took a deep breath. There was something amiss, he could smell it. He searched for the source of his uneasiness in the darkness, but there wasn't anything... And then he realised, the street lamps weren't working any more. They had been working when he had entered the house just a few minutes ago. There was something wrong, he knew it.

"What..." Harry started to ask, seeing Lupin didn't go on walking, but just then the telephone rang. Aunt Petunia gave a small shriek, the phone had scared her. She collected herself and went to pick it up.

"The Dursleys," she said. "Oh, hi... Right... Yes... Yes, he is still here, but... Yes... Yes... Ok, hold on, just a moment."

Aunt Petunia turned to Harry and Lupin, who were once more inside the house, the door closed.

"Mr. Lupin, it's for you," she said.

Harry let fall his trunk in surprise. Lupin looked very much astounded as well, but took the receiver anyway.

"Lupin," he said, "Mrs. Figg! Yes. Yes, I've noticed something. Can you see how many? All right, don't worry. That changes things a bit, though. Could you contact Arthur Weasley? Maybe he could connect the Dursley's fireplace to the Floo network. Ok. Thanks."

Lupin turned to face Harry and Petunia, they looked both worried. "I'm afraid we're gonna have to abuse your hospitality a little bit longer, Mrs. Dursley. We cannot get out of your house just yet."

"Why?" Harry asked.

Lupin swallowed. "Death Eaters. At least seven of them. Mrs. Figg has seen them from her house. There could be more, though, she isn't sure."

"What? But Dumbledore said I was safe at the Dursley's?"

"You are, Harry," Remus said, trying to calm his own breathing, "I guess they just came in case you went out of the house on your own. You know it wouldn't be the first time. If I hadn't come and you had decided to go for a walk, maybe this evening or tomorrow, they would have been waiting for you. I don't think they are planning on attacking the house, they know they cannot hurt you here."

"So what now?" Harry asked.

"Now we wait," Remus said calmly, "Mrs. Figg is trying to contact Arthur Weasley. He works at the Ministry, so he might be able to connect us to the Floo network. When he does that, we'll leave without the Death Eaters knowing it."

They were all silent for a moment. Petunia looked as if she was fighting an internal battle with herself. On the one hand, she didn't want to believe this was happening, she just wanted to ignore it all, but on the other hand, she wondered what would happen when Harry left. The Death Eaters would be still in Privet Drive, trying to get him. Wouldn't they try to get her son or her husband or even herself? She wanted to ask the wizard, but she didn't know where to begin. Fortunately for her, Remus Lupin seemed to read her mind, because after some thinking, he asked her:

"Mrs. Dursley, are your husband and your son at home?"

"Yes," she replied, "they are upstairs, my husband is helping my son to install the new computer we bought him as a welcome back present after the school finished."

The wizard nodded, and then added cautiously, "Mrs. Dursley, I don't want to scare you, but I'm afraid you could be in danger too. This people we are talking about are killers, if they don't see Harry in some days, they might try to get one of you to get information about his whereabouts."

Aunt Petunia started to shake and covered her face with her bony hands, sobbing. Harry felt sorry for her. It was his fault that they were in danger now. He didn't like the Dursleys, but that didn't mean he wished their death. He looked at Lupin, wishing there would be an easier solution to their current situation.

Lupin approached Petunia and patted her back awkwardly. "Mrs. Dursley, it's ok. I think I can help you."

She looked at him, a little bit of hope shining in her worried eyes.

"I know you don't like much wizards..." Lupin began to say. Harry thought that was the understatement of the year, but then turned his attention back to Remus' words. "You could come with us to a safe place, stay there for a couple of days, and then maybe go somewhere else, just travel around, fly to another country... The Death Eaters won't try to find you. Once they realise there's no one at home, they'll go back to their master. They'll realise you don't know where Harry is. They know Dumbledore is not silly and he is not going to share that information with muggles. When the school year begins again, you could come back home. Harry will be at Hogwarts then, they won't bother you."

Petunia pondered this information for a moment. "Will... will your kind take us in for some days? Won't they complain that they have to live with mu-mu-muggles?" She asked worried.

Lupin smiled reassuringly at her. "No, my friends won't mind. In fact, I'm sure some of them will be delighted." Remus said, thinking in Arthur Weasley.

Just then they heard footsteps thundering down the stairs and they all turned to the sitting-room door. Uncle Vernon and Dudley were heading for the kitchen, obviously thinking dinner would be ready by now, but froze mid-step when they saw the scene in the sitting-room. Uncle Vernon looked at Harry's trunk next to the boy, his wife with a tearstained face, and then one of the weirdoes he had seen at King's Cross station standing next to her. It was obvious to him that Harry must have complained to his 'friends' and now one of them had been torturing his wife while he was distracted upstairs. A loud grunt was starting to come to his throat, but before he could bellow some nonsense or attack Lupin, Petunia took some steps towards his husband and said, in a clear and commanding voice:

"Vernon, stop it!" Uncle Vernon looked surprised at her wife and tried to ask her what was going on, but she told him before he could ask. "We are in danger, Vernon. The followers of the dark wizard I told you about are surrounding our house. We must leave it now, with Harry and this man. If we don't, God knows what could happen to us."

"But..."

"Vernon! We have no time for your complains. We need to go NOW! So go and pack the things you might need for a very long holiday. We won't be back until September. Maybe it would be a good opportunity to go to Australia, as you always wanted to. And don't forget to call your firm and tell them you won't be able to go back until then. I'm sure they can survive without you. And you can call them now and then to give them instructions."

She then turned to her son and said, in a much sweeter voice:

"Dudley, go and pack your things too, darling. Don't worry, everything is gonna be ok. And don't forget to pack some clean underwear, dear, we might not be able to buy you some in the next few days."

Both Uncle Vernon and Dudley turned immediately, as if Aunt Petunia was controlling them with the Imperius curse. She then turned to Harry and Lupin, who were looking at each other with an amused expression.

"We might as well have some dinner," she said, "the kitchen is this way."

Lupin and Harry didn't dare object her orders and just followed her.

***

Just around the same time, a knock on her door broke Hermione's concentration.

"Come in," she called from her bed, where she had been sitting, reading a book.

His father opened the door. "Dinner is ready, dear."

"Ok!" The girl said, and followed her father to the kitchen.

The Grangers had barely started eating when they heard the doorbell. They all looked instinctively at the clock hanging on the wall, who could it be?

"I'll go," said Mrs. Granger.

A moment afterwards, she came back accompanied by a pink-haired girl.

"Tonks!" Hermione greeted her, surprised. "I didn't expect you so soon!" Tonks had told the Grangers at the station that she would pick up Hermione the first week of August to take her back to Grimmauld Place, so that she could be there with Ron and Harry, but Hermione had been home for only a couple of days now.

Tonks smiled. "Don't worry, everything is ok. I have good news," she said, and after a pause went on: "Sirius is alive!" she shrieked.

"What?" Hermione couldn't believe her ears. Suddenly, she stood and run to Tonks, throwing her arms around the girl's neck and starting to shout joyfully.

Her parents didn't know about Sirius' death yet -although they had heard of him, because Hermione had told them he was Harry's godfather-, so they didn't understand much what Tonks was saying, but they smiled all the same, because if their daughter was glad, it meant they were good news anyway.

"How?" Hermione finally managed to say.

"It's a long story," Tonks said smiling, "but I've seen him myself. He is at headquarters right now. Lupin has gone to tell Harry. We thought he'd probably want to see him himself, so Lupin is taking him back with him. Dumbledore said probably Ron and you would like to join Harry too."

"Oh!" Hermione said gleefully, but then checked herself and looked at her parents. "It's just that... well, I've just come home, you know..."

Mrs. Granger immediately put her daughter's worries at ease:

"Don't worry, dear, you can go now, and maybe you can come back in August and spend with us the rest of your holidays."

Mr. Granger smiled and nodded in confirmation, but it was obvious it was costing him a great effort. He missed Hermione a lot during the school year, and not having her at home during the holidays was always hard for him. But he knew her daughter belonged in another world, and he wanted her to be happy, so he didn't complain.

"Ok, then," Hermione said timidly.

"Why don't you join us for dinner, Ms. Tonks, I'm not a very good cooker, but I can at least defrost and heat some pre-cooked food. Then Hermione can pack her things while we have some coffee?"

"Oh, ok then," Tonks said, and sat herself at the table with the Grangers.

They where just finishing their desserts, when they heard a noise coming from the sitting-room. Something had fallen and broken. They all stopped talking, wondering what could have made the noise.

"It must have been Crookshanks," Hermione said, and stood to go and look for the cat, but then they heard another sound, as if someone had tripped over the rug in front of the fireplace, and then someone cursed, it was very low, but they could hear it nonetheless. Hermione stopped in her tracks and Tonks was at her side in a flash, her wand ready.

"My wand is upstairs," Hermione mouthed, pointing at the ceiling.

"Can you get it?" Tonks mouthed in reply.

"I'll try," Hermione said, nodding.

The Grangers were standing now too. The kitchen had two doors and they were both open, but they could only see part of the sitting-room from where they were. Luckily, the lights were on, because it was already dark outside.

Before Hermione had time to move, though, a red furry flash came running into the kitchen. Crookshanks threw himself at Hermione, her wand in his mouth.

"Thanks," she mouthed, patting him.

"Meow," Crookshanks replied, and then turned and started walking very slowly inside the sitting-room. When he reached the carpet, he sat himself royally, looking to the right, and started spitting angrily.

Tonks turned to Hermione's parents. "Stay here," she mouthed at them. And then prepared herself to follow the cat. Hermione did the same, ignoring the worried looks on her parents' faces.

Tonks looked left and then right very fast. Jumped to where the cat was and shouted a stunning spell. Then threw herself behind the sofa to her left just in time to avoid a red light. She stood again slowly and signalled for Hermione to join her. The girl run to her, her wand ready in front of her. There was a Death Eater lying unconscious a few feet in front of Crookshanks.

"Where is the one who attacked you?" She asked in a low voice.

"He was the one," Tonks said, "he had just time enough to say the curse before my stunning spell hit him."

Hermione nodded.

"They always attack in groups, not brave enough to work alone," Tonks said, still keeping her voice low. She looked around her. There were four open doors in the room. One was behind them, leading to the upper floor. Crookshanks had come from there, so probably there weren't any Death Eaters upstairs. Then there was the kitchen door, none there either. So that left the other two doors, one in front of them, leading to the entrance hall, the other to their left, leading to the garden. "I'll look in the garden," Tonks said. "Stay here."

Tonks moved slowly to the door leading to the garden. Before she could reach it, though, a voice called from outside the door in front of them: "Tarantallegra!" Tonks' legs started moving randomly, she was trying to hold on to something to avoid falling. Just then a Death Eater appeared in the door to the garden, his wand pointed at Tonks. "Avad..." He started to say, but Hermione was faster and stunned him. Two down. Tonks was still fighting the curse she had been hit with. Hermione went to the wall on her right and started walking alongside it, checking both doors as she went. She was now next to the door leading to the entrance hall, and the voice of Tonks' attacker had come from there. Crookshanks crossed the door before her, turned right and started spitting like mad. Hermione could see a green flash hit him before she crossed the door and faced the Death Eater. He was ready, though, and cursed her before she could attack. Hermione felt very dizzy. Everything started spinning around her. It was as if she was inside a whirlpool. And then it all stopped suddenly and she fell to the floor, panting. When she looked up, she saw the Death Eater lying unconscious on the floor. Her mother was standing just behind him, holding a heavy frying pan with her two hands. She had hit him from behind.

Mr. Granger came out through the same door Hermione had crossed a moment before, a very big knife in his right hand, Tonks holding to his left arm for support, although the curse had been lifted and she could control her legs again.

"Are you ok?" She asked Hermione. To her surprise, the three Grangers replied at the same time and even Crookshanks meowed his assent. She couldn't help smiling. "Ok, then, let's put an anti-disapparating spell on the house, so that these guys cannot run away before the aurors come." She had barely said the words, when they could hear lots of popping noises. Hermione and Tonks raised their wands, the Grangers raised their improvised weapons too.

"What's going on here?" A familiar voice croaked from the sitting-room.

"Moody!" Tonks and Hermione cried at the same time. They had never been so happy in their lives to see the old wizard.

Moody limped into the entrance hall, and surveyed the scene in front of him. "Who got him?" He asked.

"I did," Mrs. Granger said, not feeling very sure if she had done the right thing or not.

"Voldemort definitely underestimates muggles," Moody said, laughing as if he was barking.

"We've inspected the house, there are no more Death Eaters, Moody," Shacklebolt said from behind the old wizard.

"Ok, take this one, will you?" Moody told him, pointing at the wizard lying on the floor next to Mrs. Granger.

Shackelbolt looked at the fallen Death Eater and then at Mrs. Granger, still holding the pan, and smiled at her. "Good one," he told her.

"Thanks," she said, smiling shyly.

"Did you take the other two, Tonks?" Moody asked.

"No," she said, "I just took the one in the sitting-room, Hermione took care of the one in the garden."

Moody looked thoughtfully at Hermione. "Hmmm," he said, "you'd do well as an auror, did you know that?"

Hermione was tempted to tell him that the impostor Moody had told her that too, but checked herself in time. Mad-Eye didn't like talking about Crouch Jr., so she only said "Thanks."

"Aren't you underage?" A woman asked from the doorway.

Hermione paled.

"Well, yes... but it was an emergency, really." She didn't want to be expelled from Hogwarts. Oh, no, please no.

"That's ok," the woman said, and offered her her hand. "My name is Amelia Bones. I'm trying to convince the Minister that with Voldemort back we have to allow some exceptions to the Underage Use Of Magic Legislation. What has happened today just proves my point. Would you mind writing a signed report of what has happened and how you had to use magic to defend yourself and your family? I'll present it to the Minister myself together with some other documents. I don't think he will object much to my petition."

"So I'm not gonna be expelled?" Hermione asked hopefully.

"No," Amelia Bones answered with a smile, "at least not because of what happened today, but don't think you can use magic freely now, ok? Just in critical situations."

Hermione nodded to show she understood. "I'll give my report to Tonks when I finish it, if that's ok with you."

"Fine. I must be going now. Moody, I'll see you in the Ministry, right?"

"Yeah... I'll be there in a moment."

"Ok, see you there then. Bye!" Amelia Bones said to the rest of them, and then disapparated.

"Well, I think we should have a small chat, if you don't mind," Moody said, looking at them all.

"The kitchen is this way," Hermione said, and leaded the way. Her parents, Tonks and Moody followed her.

***

The Weasley boys had gone upstairs. Fred and George were showing Ron some of their new products. They always kept samples at home. Bill and Charlie, who had finally come back home to stay, had joined them too. Mr. Weasley was having a shower. Ginny was in the kitchen, helping Mrs. Weasley prepare dinner and telling her about Dean Thomas. Mrs. Weasley wasn't too happy, she had hoped Ginny and Harry would end up together, she already loved the boy as a son, but she understood Ginny had to choose for herself.

Ginny was using her mother's wand -so that no one could detect it had been her- to levitate to the table a pot filled to bursting with tomato soup when they heard the first ward on their house go down. Someone was trying to enter their home, and it wasn't a friend. She lost her concentration and the pot fell to the floor with a clatter, soup flying in every direction.

Mrs. Weasley was already by the kitchen window, and Ginny didn't need to join her to know what was going on.

"Death Eaters!" Mrs. Weasley shrieked. In a moment, the boys were by her side, their wands ready. Ginny gave her mother her wand back and ran upstairs to find hers. She met her father when she was going back to the kitchen. Mr. Weasley was wearing only a towel and his hair was all wet. His glasses kept slipping down his nose.

"How many?" He asked once in the kitchen.

"I've counted twenty so far!" Bill shouted.

"Molly, the Floo network, NOW! Take the children." Mr. Weasley shouted.

Mrs. Weasley run to the fireplace and threw some Floo powder into the grate. The flames turned a stormy blue, and a monotone voice echoed inside the kitchen: "Sorry, the Floo network is out of order right now. Please try to use it again in a few minutes. Sorry for the inconvenience and thank you for using this service."

The Weasleys looked at each other with dismay. Mrs. Weasley tried to activate the Floo network again and again, but the same voice kept on telling them to try once more.

"They must be attacking many wizarding homes at the same time," Mr. Weasley said, partly unable to believe it himself. "We are trapped."

The second ward went down, now only one magical barrier separated them from the Death Eaters. Mrs. Weasley looked at the grandfather clock in the corner, Percy's hand pointed at 'work', the rest of them were at 'mortal peril'. She looked at her husband, and he nodded in understanding.

"Fred, George, Bill, Charlie," he said, "go now."

"What?" They all asked, astounded.

"We can't win this fight, they are just too many. Ron and Ginny cannot apparate. We'll stay and try to defend them. There's no reason for us all to die. Save yourselves. Maybe, if we are lucky, you'll be able to get some help."

"No!" Fred and George shouted at the same time.

"We're not leaving," Bill said, deadly serious.

"We are eight, Dad, it's not that bad, we might defeat them," Charlie tried to reason with his father.

The last ward fell down, now only the house walls separated them from the Death Eaters. There was no time for discussion. Mr. Weasley run to the closest window and started casting spells like mad. He was so nervous, though, that he failed miserably. Bill joined his father and took down two Death Eaters at once. Charlie and Ron went to the window left from the door, where their mother was already standing. Fred and George went to each of the back windows.

"There are more coming from behind, we are surrounded!" They shouted.

"Dad, go and help Fred, I'll stay here," Bill said.

Mr. Weasley obeyed numbly. He couldn't even see, tears were clouding his eyes. His kids were going to die and he wouldn't be able to protect them. Maybe they should just surrender, that way it would be faster.

Mrs. Weasley had taken three Death Eaters already, but she wasn't used to use attacking spells, so the Death Eaters recovered promptly from her curses and joined the fright again. The problem was that the Death Eaters didn't mind using the Unforgivables, but the Weasleys were above that, they wouldn't resort to dark magic.

Charlie took his time to curse the enemies, but when he did, he always hit at least one of them.

Ron left her mother and Charlie, seeing that they could do pretty well on their own, and went to see how George was doing.

"Ron, get the fireworks," George told him, "it might distract them."

Ron run upstairs and got as many fireworks as he could carry, then joined George once more and they both started lighting them an throwing them out of the window. One of George's fireworks hit a Death Eater in the face and he fell dead to the ground. George took a deep breath. It was the first time he had killed someone. He was paralysed with shock for a moment, but then recovered, he had to defend his family, he _had_ to do it, he had to kill.

Ron took advantage of the distraction created by the fireworks and stunned two Death Eaters. He was feeling such hate as he hadn't ever felt before. If Voldemort, yes, VOL-DE-MORT, forget about You-Know-Who and other silly names. If Voldemort had thought the Weasleys would be an easy target, then he was very mistaken, oh yeah, he was.

Ginny was kneeling by the fireplace, trying to get the Floo network working, but then a Death Eater hit Bill and he cried before falling to the ground. Ginny was by him in a second. "Bill! Bill, don't be dead! Bill!" She shook her brother's body, but he didn't move. A red light came through the unguarded window, crossed the kitchen and hit Ron's back. He fell stunned to the floor. Ginny stood, looking at the window where Bill had stood, she was crying, but through the tears she could see a Death Eater just outside the window, pointing his wand at her chest. Before the man could curse her, Ginny raised her wand and roared "STUPEFY!" The window glass shattered, Ginny's spell hit the Death Eater and sent him flying backwards. She approached what was left of the window without even trying to protect herself and pointed her wand at a place between two Death Eaters. "STUPEFY!" She shouted once more, and not only both of them fell, but also two more who had been lurking behind them.

Fred had crawled to where George was and enervated Ron. "Are you ok?" He asked his younger brother.

"Yeah..." Ron answered, still a bit dizzy.

"Don't exert yourself now, wait until you recover completely." Fred told him, before patting George's back and going back to his father.

Ron was still surprised, he hadn't seen the curse coming. He looked around, and then he saw Bill's body lying sprawled on the floor. His eyes rounded with disbelief. Oh, no, he couldn't be dead, he couldn't! Ron crawled to his brother's side and tried to enervate him, but Bill didn't respond. He wasn't breathing. He was dead. Ron lifted his head, tears streaming down his cheeks. The fireplace! He crawled once more, got some Floo powder and concentrated very hard. 'Please, this has to work. Please let it work,' he thought and threw the powder into the flames. They turned emerald green this time. "IT'S WORKING!" He shouted. "The Floo network is working!"

"Go!" Mr. Weasley said, but he had made the mistake of turning, and a curse hit him from behind. He fell unconscious to the floor. His glasses shattered.

"Dad!" Fred shouted, and paid for his lack of concentration too, because a curse shattered the window and some glass pieces reached his throat, blood started streaming from his body.

At the same time, another curse hit Mrs. Weasley. She fell down, too.

Ron went to her mother and started carrying her to the fireplace. It wasn't easy though, she was very heavy. Finally she was seated on the grate. Ron hoped it would be enough and her mother wouldn't end up splinched. He neared the grate and shouted as clearly as he could: "Grimmauld Place!" Her mother disappeared. Ron went to his father next and started carrying him over to the fireplace.

"We're lost!" Charlie shouted. "They are already at the door!" Just then the door of the house fell to the ground with a loud crash. A Death Eater stepped on it. "Stupefy!" Ginny shouted from the window to the right. The man fell, but from his position in the middle of the kitchen floor, Ron could see there were lots of them coming. He let go of his father's body and pointed his wand at the Death Eaters. He hit the first one, and then, to his surprise, the others started to fall too.

"Someone has come to help us!" Charlie shouted. "Someone is attacking the Death Eaters from behind!" And so it was, because the Death Eaters looked extremely confused. They didn't know which way to turn. They were caught in a crossfire. Ginny and Charlie went on cursing as many as they could. Ron went back to carrying his father's body.

George threw the last fireworks through the window he had been covering and went to the one where his father and Fred had fallen. Three Death Eaters were almost at the window, they would get through in a second. He raised his wand and pointed it at the first one. The Death Eaters had thought that window wasn't protected any more, and so they weren't ready for George's curse. When George stunned the first one, he fell, but the other two reacted very fast. They both raised their wands, the one on the right pointed it straight at George's heart, but the other one pointed it at his companion. "Avada Kedavra!" He shouted, and the Death Eater on the right fell dead to the ground. George just stood there, paralysed by what he had just seen. A Death Eater had killed another one! The Death Eater who had killed his companion made a sign in the direction of the window George had been guarding. The boy went there. The fireworks had extinguished. It seemed they had reached some human targets, but there were still a couple of Death Eaters standing. One of them was already climbing inside the house. George stunned him from where he was, and then heard again the Avada Kedavra curse being uttered from outside the house and the last Death Eater fell dead to the ground. He went to the window and looked outside. The Death Eater who had helped him took off his mask for a moment before running to the front of the house. George couldn't believe his eyes. He never thought someday he would be so glad to see Professor Snape.

Ron had finally managed to send his father to Grimmauld Place through the Floo network, and was trying to carry Bill's body. George joined him and helped him lift their brother. Between the two of them, it was much easier. "What about the rear windows?" Ron asked.

"It's ok," George assured him, "there are no Death Eaters left there. Let's get Bill and Fred out of here, then Ginny and you, and Charlie and I can disapparate.

"They are gone!" Ginny shouted from their right. "We've won, they're gone!"

"Yes, they've disapparated!" Charlie confirmed from the left.

Ron and George looked incredulously at each other, both of them still carrying Bill to the fireplace. They let their brother on the floor with the utmost care and went to join Charlie and Ginny at the windows. Nobody.

Then some bushes a few feet from the windows moved. "We are coming out now! Don't curse us!" A familiar voice shouted, and then they could see four hands up in the air, holding two wands. Charlie, Ron, George and Ginny were absolutely nonplussed. These two people had helped them fight the Death Eaters, they were alive because of them. Two familiar faces and then bodies followed their respective hands: Percy Weasley and his girlfriend, Penelope Clearwater.

***

Remus and Harry were alone at the Dursley's kitchen. Aunt Petunia had opened a bottle of the red wine her husband reserved for very important customers and filled Lupin's glass to the rim. She even offered some to Harry, to the boy's bewilderment. She had put some chips and olives on the table in front of them, and then had excused herself because she had to go and pack too. Lupin didn't think it twice, he had to tell Harry now about Sirius or he wouldn't have another chance to talk to him in private. He had thought that he would tell Harry on their way to Grimmauld Place, but now the Dursleys were going back with them, and if they were going to use the Floo network, they would reach headquarters in a moment.

Harry was helping himself to some more wine. When his glass was full, he raised it looking at Lupin and said: "To Voldemort's death." Lupin raised his glass too and they both took a good draught. The wine was delicious. Remus raised again his glass, took a deep sigh, and looking Harry in the eye, said: "To Sirius' resurrection." Harry blanched. If this was a joke, he didn't think it funny in the least.

Remus emptied his glass in one gulp, left the glass on the table and put his hand on Harry's shoulder. "Harry," he said, "I know this is gonna sound very weird. I couldn't believe it myself when Dumbledore told me, but it's true, I've seen him myself, Sirius is alive."

Harry didn't react, he just stared at the werewolf as if hypnotised, so Lupin went on: "That's why I've come so soon to take you to Grimmauld Place, Harry, Sirius is there. He is waiting for us. Well, he doesn't know I've come here, he would have wanted to come too, and I thought the shock would be too much for you. I wanted to deliver the news first, so that you had time to assimilate them." He pressed Harry's shoulder, but the boy still didn't react. Finally, with a great effort, Harry managed to ask "How...". Remus smiled. "That's what we all have asked at knowing. Well, not that everybody knows yet, only Tonks, Moody, Dumbledore, McGonagall and myself. And now you." Lupin paused. "Harry, have you ever heard of the ashanriis?" Harry shook his head, so Remus told him everything Dumbledore had told him. Harry just couldn't believe his ears. Was it true? Could it really be true?

The ringing of the telephone took Harry out of his stupor. Aunt Petunia's light steps could be heard coming downstairs. She answered the phone and then came to the kitchen. "It's Mrs. Figg again," she said.

Remus went to the phone, Harry could hear him from the kitchen. "What! Merlin! What now? Ok... Well, right now, I can't think of a better option... Yes, yes... we'll wait. The Dursleys are coming with us too, I don't dare leave them alone in the house... Mrs. Figg... Now, now, there's no need to be nasty... Ok, ok... No, of course you know better... No, that's not what I... Sorry... Sorry... I said 'sorry'... Right... Ok... B..."

"Would you believe it? She hang the telephone before I could even say 'bye'!" Remus said indignantly, he didn't look too happy after his conversation with Mrs. Figg.

"What's going on?" Harry asked. Aunt Petunia was listening intently, biting her nails.

"It seems Arabella couldn't contact Arthur Weasley," Lupin said looking at the floor. Harry had the sensation the werewolf wasn't telling him all the truth. Remus went on saying: "She talked to Moody instead, he is coming with some other aurors to help us get out. She'll call us again when they are here."

"You mean we're going to leave the house through the main door and face those monsters waiting for us outside?" Aunt Petunia asked terrified.

Lupin swallowed, and then nodded. "I'm sorry, there's no other way out."

Harry thought for a moment. "Professor Lupin," he said, "I've got my Firebolt upstairs. Maybe we could try to fly it?"

"Harry, I doubt very much your Firebolt and my old broom are gonna be enough to carry you, your trunk, your family and myself."

Harry thought the word 'family' was too bold to describe the Dursleys, but didn't correct Lupin, there were more important matters at the moment. "Maybe you could... transfigure them or something, Professor?" Harry asked very low, but Aunt Petunia heard him all the same, and turned quickly to Lupin, to see what he would say. She didn't like much Harry's idea. Luckily for her, neither did Lupin.

"No, Harry, that would only lessen my powers. If I have to concentrate on keeping them in their altered form, then I won't be able to defend ourselves properly from the Death Eaters. I think we've got a better chance if we just fight. They won't be expecting us to come out with our wands. I'm not even sure they know who I am. They might have thought I was just a friend of the Dursleys, as I'm wearing muggle clothes. And then Moody and the others will be outside, waiting to give us some cover."

Harry wasn't too happy with the idea, but nodded all the same. Professor Lupin had to know best. Just then Uncle Vernon and Dudley came downstairs, carrying heavy suitcases.

"I can transfigure those, though, I won't need as much concentration for that," Lupin said, and in a moment the heavy suitcases were small black buttons. He took them and put them in his jeans pocket. The Dursleys looked at him thunderstruck, but didn't comment.

"Let's eat something," Aunt Petunia said, "it must be almost cold."

They all took sits around the table, but none of them seemed very hungry, only Dudley and Professor Lupin finished their portions. Aunt Petunia and Harry pushed their food around the dishes, but didn't eat much. Uncle Vernon didn't even try the food, he seemed to be thinking about something. Finally, with a great effort, he addressed Lupin:

"I have a shotgun upstairs. I bought it just in case someone would break into the house. Do you think I should take it?"

Lupin shook his head. "Muggle weapons won't hurt those people. It could serve as a distraction, as I don't think they would be expecting you to attack them, but they would probably recover very fast from the initial surprise, and you would loose too much time. When we go out, I'll go first and try to give you some time while you run to Mrs. Figg's house. We'll blow her cover, but at least we'll be able to use her fireplace. Harry, you will have to help the Dursleys use the Floo network."

"Ok," Harry said. The Dursleys looked worriedly at him. They weren't sure if the boy would be willing to help them. They hadn't been the best of relatives. Harry just stared at the tablecloth.

Once more, the telephone broke the silence. They all tensed. Aunt Petunia went to answer, followed closely by Lupin. The others remained sited, their stomachs in their throats.

Lupin returned to the kitchen. "It's time," he announced, and took his wand. "Harry, I'll take care of your trunk too. When I open the door, I'll jump in front of it and try to give you as much time as I can. Just run. You follow him." Lupin added looking at the Dursleys. Uncle Vernon and Dudley looked at Aunt Petunia. She was crying silently, caressing Dudley's big head, but nodded with determination.

"What about you, Professor?" Harry asked.

Lupin smiled sadly. "I'll be fine, Harry. I won't be alone. You have to think in your relatives and Mrs. Figg. They will all need your help to escape. I'll look after myself."

Harry's green eyes filled with tears. He knew there was a big probability that Professor Lupin wouldn't make it to Mrs. Figg's. He went to his father's friend and hugged him fiercely. Remus just patted his back for a moment, and then made him lift his face.

"Harry, I'll be fine." Harry couldn't answer. He took a deep breath and dried his tears with the back of his left hand while his right hand held his wand firmly.

"Ready?" Lupin asked, his left hand on Harry's right shoulder. The boy nodded. Remus looked at the Dursleys. "Ok, let's go then."

They went to the door. Lupin put a spell on it so that he could see through it without being seen from the outside. He could only spot five Death Eaters. At least they weren't very good at hiding, thank Merlin. No aurors were to be seen, but Lupin knew they were there. They had to. Without a second thought, he blasted the Dursley's door and went out. The Death Eaters weren't expecting something like that, and he stunned two of them before they had time to blink.

Harry started sprinting, the Dursleys running behind him. He could see flashes of light out of the corner oh his eye, but didn't turn to look, just kept on running. He reached Mrs. Figg's door and then turned for the first time. Aunt Petunia was some feet away, holding Dudley's hand, half carrying him, Uncle Vernon was behind them. The boy and his father were so fat that they couldn't run very fast. Three Death Eaters were following them, but they were very far. Harry took aim and stunned the one closer to his relatives. Meanwhile, Mrs. Figg had come to open the door. Harry stepped aside so that his aunt and his cousin could get in, and then threw himself behind a bush so that he could attack the other two Death Eaters and give his uncle some time. He took one of the black figures running in his direction, but missed the second time. It didn't matter, though, his uncle was already there. Harry followed him inside and closed the door.

"Here!" Mrs. Figg shouted from the further end of the room. She was standing next to the fireplace, where a splendid fire was roaring, and had a pot in her trembling hands. Harry went to her, took some of the powder inside the pot and threw it into the flames, which turned green.

"Come on! You first, Mrs. Figg, so that they see what they have to do," Harry said. Mrs. Figg didn't complain and stepped inside the grate to the bewilderment of the Dursleys.

"Grimmauld Place!" Harry shouted, and Mrs. Figg disappeared.

"You next, Aunt Petunia!"

"No, Dudley first!" Aunt Petunia said.

"Ok," Harry didn't want to loose time.

Dudley looked apprehensively at the flames.

"Come on!" Harry said.

"We'll go together!" Aunt Petunia said, and taking Dudley's hand, stepped into the fire. It was lucky she was so thin. Harry uttered their destination once more, and the next moment they were gone.

"Come on, Uncle Vernon!" Harry shouted. His uncle had already one foot in the grate when the house door was blasted by the third Death Eater that had been following them. Both had to dive to avoid being hit by wood pieces. Harry rolled on the floor and pointed his wand at the Death Eater, who was ready, but before he could utter a spell, a very heavy book hit the Death Eater in the head and he fell to the ground. Harry looked astounded at his uncle. "Don't look at me like that, I was shot-putting school champion in my days, boy," the man said.

They didn't loose much time in conversation, though. Once Uncle Vernon had disappeared through the Floo network, Harry stepped into the fire. He paused for a moment, wondering if Professor Lupin was ok. Maybe he should go back to the Dursleys' and help him, but he knew Professor Lupin would want him to go, and by staying he could endanger both of them, so he took a deep breath and then uttered his destination for the fourth time: "Grimmauld Place!" Everything around him started to spin, and then stopped again. From inside the fireplace at Grimmauld's Place, he could hear people shouting. He stepped out, his wand ready, and looked around. Sirius' mother was screaming from her portrait, apparently terrified by something. Harry looked at that something: it was Aunt Petunia, screaming likewise like mad, with her eyes almost popping out of her face. Apparently, they had both scared each other. Harry covered his ears and went over to try and calm Aunt Petunia. Just then, someone came running from a side door and pushed closed the curtains hiding Mrs. Black's portrait. Harry stared at the man with long black hair who had turned to look at him.

"Welcome back home, Harry," Sirius Black said with a wide smile on his handsome face.

*****

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Thanks for the reviews!

Thanks all for reading and reviewing!

Well, that was certainly long for my standards. I finally decided not to split this chapter in two, I didn't want to make you suffer ;-), and Chapter 10 is going to be almost as long anyway. I have the weird feeling that the characters are taking control over my story, and I'm not very sure if that's good or not. You tell me...

This was the first time I had to write scenes with a lot of action because of the attacks by the Death Eaters, I hope you liked them. In Chapter 10 some of 'my characters' will be back, and we'll meet some ashanriis we haven't seen before.

Oh, yes, and I just wanted to tell you that I decided to classify this story under the category 'Sirius Black'. He is not really the main character, because as you can see, Harry and many other familiar characters are going to appear in this story, but as he was the first... I think the story will be easier to find now. Do you think I should choose a second category too? I've thought about it, but I don't know which one to choose. Any suggestions?

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Kady Rilla Wholi: Thanks for your review! Well, now you know what Tonks and Moony were supposed to do: they were going to pick up Hermione and Harry, which turned out to be quite good for them. ;-)

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K-Black: Thanks! Yes, my McGonagall was a little peculiar, she run out of my control, I couldn't stop her. ;-) I hope you liked this chapter too.

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Ann: Thanks! Here it is, I hope you liked it. :-)

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Kabeebalers: That's ok, I understand that people don't always have the time to review, but I'm certainly glad to hear from you again. :-)


	10. At St Mungo's

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Disclaimer: The characters that look familiar to you belong to J. K. Rowling. The ones you cannot find in any of her books are mine. I don't intend to make any money out of this. I'm just having some fun.

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At St. Mungo's

Sirius just couldn't believe his eyes when he saw Mrs. Weasley's body in the fireplace. He had been upstairs with Buchbeak and had heard a strange noise. When he had gone to investigate, he had found her lying there in a heap. He took her out carefully and was trying to see what was wrong with her when Mr. Weasley's body appeared in the fireplace too.

Sirius had laid them both on the kitchen floor and was trying to reanimate them, when he heard the wards on the house go down. He took his wand and went carefully to the door. Tonks, Hermione and a couple of muggles he supposed were Hermione's parents came in. Sirius didn't even greet them, just told them straight away about the Weasleys. They all ran back to the kitchen and tried different spells, but none seemed to work.

"Here, let me see them," Mr. Granger said, and kneeled beside Mrs. Weasley and started examining her.

"Are you a doctor, sir?" Sirius asked.

"A dentist, but we have to take general medicine too at university. Maybe my wife and I can help."

Mrs. Granger was examining Mr. Weasley now. "There doesn't seem to be anything wrong with them, maybe they are just in shock," she said. "Do you have a bucket?"

"A bucket?" Sirius asked, more to himself than to the others. "Yes, in here, I think." He opened a cupboard and there it was. Mrs. Granger took it and filled it with cold water, then went back and threw it at Mr. Weasley. He awoke with a start and sat gasping for air. He looked around, and then screamed: "Death Eaters! At the Burrow! You have to help the kids!"

Sirius put a comforting arm on Mr. Weasley's shoulder. "Don't worry, we will." He looked at Tonks and she got the message. The girl left in a flash to find some aurors and go to the Weasleys' home.

It was lucky that Mr. Weasley was so worried about his family that he didn't even realise he was being comforted by none other than Sirius Black, who was supposedly dead. In the meantime, Mrs. Granger had lost no time and had thrown another bucket full of water at Mrs. Weasley, who reacted exactly as her husband had a moment ago.

Hermione and his father helped the Weasleys stand up and took them to a couple of chairs. Sirius prepared some tea and added some firewhisky to their cups. Mrs. Weasley took hers from Sirius, and muttered a "Thanks", but in looking at him realised who he was, and let go of the cup, which fell to the table and broke, splattering tea in every direction. "SIRIUS BLACK, SIRIUS BLACK!" Molly started to scream, now standing and pointing at the man she was looking at with her eyes almost popping out of her face.

The Grangers didn't understand much what was all the fuss about, so they thought Mrs. Weasley was still in shock and hurried to her side trying to calm her. Mr. Weasley, alerted of a dead man's presence by his wife, stood with his wand ready, and was going to attack Sirius, thinking he was an impostor, when Hermione jumped in front of the animagus with her hands in front of her, trying to avoid Sirius' second demise in a few days. "IT'S OK, IT'S OK!" She tried to cry above Mrs. Weasley's shrieks. "It's Sirius! He really is! He has come back to life!"

At this, the Weasleys looked doubtful for a moment, but seemed to calm themselves; Arthur lowered his wand and Molly stopped screaming. The Grangers, instead, looked nonplussed. What did their daughter mean by 'back to life'?

Now that everybody was silent, Sirius put a hand on Hermione's shoulder and said calmly, "Sorry I scared you, it's a long story." Mrs. Granger fainted, but everybody ignored her. Her husband sat, very slowly, on a chair, trying to calm his breathing and to comprehend the fact that the man standing behind her daughter had defeated death itself. Mr. Weasley approached Sirius slowly and shook his hand, absolutely nonplussed too, while Mrs. Weasley threw herself at Sirius' neck and started sobbing hysterically on his shoulder, as if she had just recovered another son. Sirius patted her awkwardly and smiled at the other two men in the room apologetically. Hermione sighed in relieve and started making some more tea.

***

Percy and Penelope came out of the bushes in front of the Burrow and started walking slowly towards the house, with their hands still up in the air. When they reached the door, Ginny, Ron, George and Charlie welcomed them as if there hadn't been any misunderstandings between them until then. Percy had come back to his family in the end, and that's what mattered now, not the mistaken decisions he might have made in the past. They talked some, but they couldn't just sit and chat, they had to take Bill and Fred to Grimmauld Place and see if their parents were ok.

Penelope closed Fred's wounds magically and he stopped bleeding, but he was still out cold, he had lost a lot of blood. Ginny was already in the grate when they heard lots of popping noises, someone had just apparated. They all jumped, their wands ready, fearing the Death Eaters had come back, but the newcomers were aurors, not enemies. Shacklebolt went to them and checked Bill and Fred. "Take them to St. Mungo's," he said, "we'll take care of the Death Eaters lying around." Charlie and Percy took hold of their injured brothers and disapparated. Penelope followed them. Then Ron, George and Ginny took the Floo network to go to Grimmauld Place and see if their parents were ok.

***

Arthur and Molly Weasley hadn't have time to recover from the shock of Sirius' being alive when a noise could be heard coming from the fireplace. They all turned to see Ginny coming out of it, she stepped rapidly outside and then Ron and George followed. The adults rushed to them, and after the first commotion, Ginny explained what had happened after her parents were cursed.

"Percy and Penelope saved us," she said. "We wouldn't have made it without them. They took the Death Eaters by surprise."

"But how did they know we were being attacked?" Mr. Weasley asked astounded.

"The clock mum gave Penelope for Christmas." Her father didn't seem to understand, but her mother hugged her sons even harder and started to cry. Ginny explained further: "Remember? Mum gave Penelope a grandfather clock like ours, only it included all of us and her family too. It seems after Percy quarrelled with us she moved to live with him. She was in their flat when the Death Eaters attacked us, and when she saw our hands in the clock pointing at 'mortal peril', went to the Ministry to find Percy, and then they went to the Burrow together."

"It seems they wanted to bring some aurors along," George added, "but the Death Eaters are attacking many places at the same time, and there were none there at the moment."

"I know," Hermione said, from beside her mother, who had regained consciousness by now, "we were attacked too."

The Weasleys were shocked at this. "Oh, dear," Mrs. Weasley said, "and how could you escape?"

Hermione proceeded to explain everything, and then added: "And by the way... just so that nobody faints or screams again, let me tell you that Sirius is alive," and she pointed at the handsome wizard, who was standing a little bit behind Mr. Weasley and couldn't be seen from where his children were. Arthur stepped aside now, and they could finally see him. Sirius just raised his right hand and said: "Hello there!" with a very silly face.

Silence once more. Ginny, George and Ron all gaped at him. Finally Ginny shook herself and said: "I'm sure there's a very long and good story behind this miracle, but I'm afraid it will have to wait. We should go to St. Mungo's and see how Bill and Fred are."

"Yes, dear," Molly said immediately. "Let's go now. And we must see Percy too," she said, looking at her husband out of the corner of her eye, "after all he did for us." Mr. Weasley didn't comment, he just looked very sombre.

"There was someone else too," George said, not very sure if he should mention it or not.

"What do you mean?" His father asked.

"Penelope and Percy helped us from the front, but we had help from the back of the house too." The boy explained.

To everybody's surprise, Hermione was the first to ask: "Who?"

George looked uncomfortably at them all. "Professor Snape," he finally whispered.

"WHAT?" All the Weasleys and Sirius shouted, but Hermione just hit her head with the palm of her hand. "Of course," she said, "probably Voldemort sent him there with the other Death Eaters, but he is on our side, so he tried to help you. Very risky if you ask me. If another Death Eater has seen him help you, then Voldemort won't be happy, and I can only imagine what an horrible death awaits him..."

Sirius was nonplussed. He had always hated Severus Snape, but he had to admit the man had some nerve. To risk his position as a spy and his life like that... not that he was going to let him know, but he was starting to respect him a bit. Just a tiny bit.

The Weasleys were very shocked too, but they felt more gratitude than surprise. Hopefully they would have the chance to thank the man for all his help, but now there were more pressing matters, so they started making their way to St. Mungo's.

St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries was simply crowded. The Weasleys could see now that their father had been right, the collapse of the Floo network meant that people were trying to run away from Death Eaters' attacks. Voldemort knew it was a matter of time until the Ministry or the wizarding community realised he was back, and in the meantime he had regrouped all his old followers and gained many more. They were ready, and so when the news of Voldemort's return were out, the Death Eaters started putting into action their intimidating policy of terror. Wizards and witches weren't ready to defend themselves, after leaving in peace for more than a decade, and they were easy preys.

Luckily, the Weasleys' red hair was easy to detect among the crowd, so Arthur and Molly found Percy and Charlie easily. They were standing in the far right corner of the reception area at St. Mungo's. They made their way there with difficulty. The room was crowded with injured people and friends accompanying them, all equally worried and intent on getting their relatives attended first.

To their relief, Fred was already awake, although he looked extremely pale. Mrs. Weasley started hugging and caressing him tenderly. For once, the boy didn't complain. When he felt her mother's soft embrace, he started sobbing quietly. "We've lost him, we've lost him," he repeated once and again.

Ron felt his stomach contract, he was going to be sick. Charlie's and Percy's sad faces confirmed their worst fears. Bill was dead. The newcomers started to cry, Hermione, who had decided to go with the Weasleys, took Ron's hand in hers. Ginny was the only one who didn't cry, she looked absolutely furious instead. She went to where Bill was lying and kneeled beside him. They were going to pay. If it was the last thing she did, those Death Eaters were going to pay.

After a while, Mr. Weasley finally found his voice. "Molly," he said, "take the kids to headquarters. I'll stay and take care of Bill's burial." Mrs. Weasley, still holding on to Fred, only shook her head. She wasn't ready yet to go and give up his first son.

"Weasley?" A voice shouted above the noise the people in the room were making. Eight red heads and two girls looked in the direction of the speaker. A thin boy was approaching them, he was wearing St. Mungo's uniform, so they supposed he worked there.

"Ming!" Percy said, and went to the other boy to shake hands.

"Why are you here?" The boy asked, looking at all the Weasleys and their tearstained faces.

"My family was attacked by Death Eaters," Percy explained. "My brother Fred was injured, we are still waiting for another round of Blood-Replenishing Potion, the nurse said he would need at least 4 doses, but he's only had one so far."

The other boy nodded and sighed. "We haven't got any more. We're running off of all the potions we had in stock. I'll try to find you some, but I can't promise."

"Thanks," Percy muttered. His friend's eyes went to a pretty girl sitting on the floor, next to a young man, obviously another Weasley. "What about him?" He asked.

Percy just shook his head sadly. His friend nodded to show he understood, and approached the corpse. "I'll try to speed things for you..." he was saying, but then stopped mid-sentence. He had put his hands in Bill's chest and could feel something. There was definitely still a magical aura around him, it was very feeble, but it was there nonetheless. "Did a healer see him?" He asked.

"Yes, an old woman with short blue hair," Charlie informed him.

"Wait a minute here, will you?" The boy said hurriedly and ran off through a door close by. The Weasleys looked at each other surprised, and then at Percy. "Benjamin Ming," he said. He was in my year at Hogwarts."

"I knew he looked familiar," George said, "isn't he that Slytherin you used to hang around with?"

Percy sighed. "Look, I don't care what you say. Not all Slytherins are bad. Ben and I were kind of friends at Hogwarts. He was a Prefect too," Percy added, as if that settled the matter.

They didn't have much time for conversation, the boy was already back, and a tall black woman in her forties, with very short hair and also wearing St. Mungo's uniform, accompanied him. "May I?" She asked, so that Ginny would move over. She kneeled at Bill's side and started examining him. The Weasleys waited for her to finish without even breathing. After a moment, she turned to them and said:

"He's not dead yet, but we don't have much time. He has been hit with the Cathatis curse. It is a very ancient curse, black magic, of course. It was widely used in the Middle Ages. It makes the injured person look as if they were dead, no pulse, no heartbeat, nothing. Most of the affected die, of course, some of them not because of the curse itself, but because they are buried alive by their relatives, who think they are dead. The curse is lethal in itself, though, because it goes on consuming the magical force of the witch or wizard until they die. It's very difficult to detect, and the Death Eater who used it must have been very powerful, because it takes a lot of dark magic to cast it."

The Weasleys were horror-struck. They were going to bury Bill alive too!

The woman went on talking. "I cannot cure him myself. He is too weak. He needs a more powerful ashanrii."

"You are an ashanrii, madam?" Charlie asked bewildered. He thought they were just a legend.

"Yeah, I am," she said, not very enthusiastically though, and then turned to Benjamin, who had been waiting by her side. "Good job, dear," she said with a smile. "We'll need Yamiko Sam for this though. Do you think you can contact her somehow?"

The boy thought for a moment. "Sha-adi might. I'll go and ask her."

"Ok," the woman said. "I must go back now," she said, and left without giving the Weasleys time to thank her.

"I'll be back in a minute," Benjamin told the Weasleys. "Oh, and I checked about the potion. None left. They are making some more downstairs, but it will take some time. I'll bring you a dose as soon as I can," he added.

"Thanks," Percy said. None of the others could react. Difficult to believe though it was, Bill still had a chance.

They didn't have to wait long before a beautiful girl with long green curls approached them. She wasn't wearing the St. Mungo's uniform, just a lime-green apron on top of her dress and a golden badge with the word "Volunteer" in forest-green letters printed on it.

"The Weasleys?" She asked.

"Yes," Mrs. Weasley responded anxiously.

The girl approached her. "My name is Sha-adi Ming. I'm Benjamin's sister. He told me you needed the help of a friend of mine."

"Yes," Molly said, "it's for my son Bill, he's been hit by the Cathatis curse." She explained.

Sha-adi looked over to where Bill was lying. "Ok," she said, and taking a pin out of her hair, offered it to Mrs. Weasley. "You must take him to a quite place. Maybe your house, if it's possible, and if not, a hotel, or a friend's house. You lay him on a bed and undress him. When you've finished, press the little green flower in this pin, do you see it?" Molly nodded. "Right, if there are wards on the house or the place where you are, you have to take them down. I know it's a risk, but you have to, otherwise my friend won't be able to answer your call. While you wait, put some clean water to boil. If there is a fireplace in the room where your son is, then much better. Did you understand everything?"

"Yes," Molly answered.

"Oh, and I almost forgot," Sha-adi said, "my friend will think _I_ am calling her, so she might not be happy when she realises I'm not there, she might think it's a trap or something. Just keep your wands out of sight and do nothing that can make her think you are a threat, because you might be in trouble. Just tell her I gave you the pin so that she could save your son, and it'll be ok."

"She will help us, won't she?" Charlie asked worried from behind the girl.

Sha-adi looked at him and smiled. "She will, don't worry." She then turned again to Mrs. Weasley. "Any questions?"

Molly thought for a moment. "What about my other son?" She asked looking at Fred.

Sha-adi looked at him too. "You need some Blood-Replenishing Potion, don't you?" She asked. Fred nodded. "That's ok," the girl went on saying, "Benjamin will take care of it. They are making some more now, the problem is that there aren't enough hands to help."

"Could we help somehow?" Hermione asked.

"Definitely," Sha-adi told her. "I'm not a healer myself. Actually, I have my own kindergarten. I'm working as a volunteer, administering potions, healing unimportant wounds, trying to calm the relatives of the injured people, assigning beds..."

"Mrs. Weasley, would it be ok if I stay and try to help?" Hermione asked.

"I don't know dear..."

"Please, mum, I wanna stay too," Ginny said. "There's nothing we can do for Bill, and while we wait for Fred's potion, we can try to help some other people."

Mrs. Weasley was thinking about it when another voice greeted them, this time, though, it was quite familiar. "Ron? Hermione?" Neville Longbottom inquired. He was wearing a lime-green apron too on top of his clothes and another badge reading "Volunteer".

"Neville!" They all exclaimed.

"Hi!" The boy said, and then took in Fred's and Bill's state. "Were you attacked then?" He asked.

"Yes, you?" Ron replied.

"No," the boy said, "I was here visiting my parents when chaos ensued. My grandma left to see if my uncle and his family were ok, and I stayed to try and help."

"Mum?" Ginny insisted then.

"Don't worry, Mrs. Weasley, they'll be fine. Madam Pomfrey is co-ordinating the volunteers' job." Neville said.

"I'll stay too, Mrs. Weasley," Penelope said. "I'll take them back with me when we finish here."

Mrs. Weasley sighed. "Ok, then, who wants to stay?" Ginny, George, Ron and Hermione raised their hands. "Ok, then, but try to help and not to cause more trouble, ok?"

"Yes, mum." Ginny said. "Thanks!" She was feeling much better now that she knew Bill still had a chance and she was going to be useful.

Percy and Charlie took each a side of the small stretcher where Bill was lying, ready to disapparate.

"Where to?" Charlie asked.

"Headquarters," their father answered.

"But Dad," Charlie said, "we'll have to take down the wards."

"I know," Mr. Weasley said, "but we cannot go back home now, it's not safe. And I can think of no other place. Let's go there and we'll talk it over with the people there."

The boys nodded and disapparated. Arthur and Molly looked at their younger children for the last time, and then they were gone too.

"Well," Sha-adi said, "I must go back to work, I'll see you around," and then left.

George stayed with Fred while the others followed Neville to where Madam Pomfrey stood, a very long parchment on her left hand and a quill in the other. She smiled at them when she saw them coming.

"More volunteers, I guess..." And before they could even answer, she was already assigning them jobs. "Miss Granger, you go downstairs through that door to the left. You can help make some potions. I've heard you are pretty good at it, aren't you?" Hermione turned a little bit red. Was it possible that Professor Snape had praised her in front of Madam Pomfrey? How strange! The matron gave her a lime-green apron and another badge like the one Neville was wearing, and then went on with the assignments: "Miss Weasley, are you any good with children?"

"Not really," Ginny answered awkwardly.

"I am, madam," Penelope said, "I work in a kindergarten."

"Ok, then," the matron said, "third floor, ask for Miss Guillaume, she's in charge there." She gave then Penelope an apron and a badge as well.

"What do you think you could help us with, Miss Weasley?" Madam Pomfrey asked.

"I'm not bad at healing charms, madam," Ginny said. "I've helped my mother many times to cure Fred and George."

Madam Pomfrey nodded in understanding. Yes, yes, she was sure the twins had given the rest of the family lots of opportunities to practice their healing charms.

"Ok, then," she said, "you must go through that door in the middle of the wall behind you, do you see it?" Ginny nodded, and then took an apron and a badge from the woman.

"Mr. Weasley, what about you?" Poppy asked.

"My brother George wants to help too, madam, he is with Fred now, he's been injured." Ron said, before answering her question.

"Oh, dear, I'm sorry," the woman said, looking at him and Ginny. "Is he ok now?"

Ron shrugged. "Waiting for some potion," he said.

"Oh, ok. What about your brother and yourself then?"

Ron was thinking about it when Neville said: "Maybe they can help me, Madam Pomfrey." And then added, for Ron's benefit: "I'm taking the injured people to the different floors depending of the kind of injury they have. Some healers are working here, in the reception area, and when they assign a floor, me and other volunteers levitate them to the right place. You have to talk to them on the way, you know, try to comfort them a bit."

"That would be fine, I think," Ron said.

"Ok, then," Madam Pomfrey agreed. "Take these to your brother, and these are for you," she said, giving him two aprons and two badges.

"And what about Fred?" Ginny asked. "Who's gonna stay with him?"

"You can take him with you, Ginny, you should be able to keep an eye on him in case he needs you. Meanwhile, he should probably try to sleep a bit."

"Ok," the girl said.

They all turned to go their separate ways. Just then, Hermione and Ron realised they were still holding hands. They both let go very quickly, and turned very red. Ginny and Neville noticed, and looked at each other with knowing smiles, but didn't say a thing.

"See you in a while," Penelope said, and she and Hermione went to the stairs, where they took separate ways.

Ron and Neville walked with Ginny to where Fred and George were. Once there, Neville levitated Fred and followed Ginny, while Ron explained to George what they were supposed to do.

***

Sirius was showing the Grangers their room. Moody had decided it wasn't safe for them to stay at home, so they had called their friends and relatives to say they had won a trip on a contest -Tonks' idea- and were leaving the very same day. Then they had packed some things and followed Hermione and Tonks to Grimmauld Place, where they had found Sirius trying to reanimate Arthur and Molly Weasley. When the Weasleys and their daughter had left, they had told Sirius they were supposed to stay for some weeks, and he had taken them to one of the clean rooms on the second floor, excusing himself for the bad taste in decoration of his ancestors. Mrs. Granger almost fainted again when she saw the reduced house-elves' heads hanging on the wall, but made it to the room in one piece.

Suddenly, they could hear a thud from downstairs and an ear-splitting cry. In a moment, the shrieks of Sirius' mother contributed to increase the noise pollution in the house.

"Stay here," he whispered, and run downstairs with his wand ready. He recognised Petunia immediately, although she looked even thinner now. She had always had a good voice, but Sirius concluded that didn't make her a real threat, so he turned his back on her and went to close the curtains hiding his mother's portrait. When he turned, he saw Harry for the first time.

Their gazes locked, and then they both started walking at the same time to each other. Sirius hugged Harry fiercely and started grinning like mad. When they finally let go, Harry looked into his godfather's eyes and said, smiling, "Good trick, you'll have to show me how to do that," he said.

"I will," Sirius said, "but no practical lessons, ok?"

They both laughed, more out of nerves than because they found the situation funny. Then turned to the Dursleys, who were looking scared at the man in front of them: the mass murderer they had seen on TV.

Sirius was used to seeing terror in the eyes of those looking at him, so he just acted as normal as he could.

"Hello, you must be the Dursleys. I'm Harry's godfather," he said, and offered his hand to uncle Vernon, who shook it without much enthusiasm.

"Mrs. Figg?" The young wizard greeted her. Luckily, Dumbledore had had time enough to tell Arabella about Sirius' resurrection, so instead of fainting or screaming like mad, she just nodded tiredly.

"Sirius," Harry said, "the Dursleys will have to stay for a while, Remus thought it would be dangerous for them to stay at home."

"All right, no problem. The Grangers are here as well." 

"The Grangers? Why?" Harry asked.

"Listen, Harry, don't get nervous now, ok?" Sirius said, laying his hands on the boy's shoulders and looking him in the eye. Harry didn't like at all his godfather's tone. "It seems there have been lots of Death Eaters' attacks today. Nobody was expecting they would attack so soon. It seems they went for the Grangers, probably because of Hermione. But luckily Tonks was with them at the time, and they're ok. Moody sent them here, though, for the same reason the Dursleys will have to stay." Sirius paused, took a deep breath and then went on. "The Weasleys were attacked too." Harry's eyes rounded with worry, but he didn't dare interrupt Sirius. "It's a long story, but basically, Fred and Bill were wounded, so the Weasleys and Hermione are at St. Mungo's now."

"Was it very bad?" Harry asked.

"I don't know, Harry," Sirius said with a grimace, "but let's hope they'll be fine. They left not long ago, and if the rumours about the attacks are true, then it might take them some time to come back. I'm afraid St. Mungo's must be full of people right now."

Harry looked at the floor. It just wasn't fair. The Grangers, the Weasleys, even the Dursleys. Why did they have to leave their houses and run into hiding? Why couldn't they live their lives freely? Someone had to stop Voldemort soon, and he knew it had to be him. Sirius noticed he was looking very sombre, and asked him if he was ok. "Yeah," Harry said in a not very convincing tone, "it's just that I wish I could help the Weasleys somehow." Sirius nodded in understanding and hugged him once more.

"Where is Moony?" He asked suddenly. Harry's worries didn't diminish, they just took a different direction.

"We couldn't use the fireplace at the Dursleys, because it's not connected to the Floo network, so we had to try the front door. He stayed behind fighting the Death Eaters who were surrounding the Dursleys' house so that we had time to escape." Sirius paled.

"It's ok, Sirius," Arabella said in her sweetest grandmother's tone. "I had alerted Moody, he was there, and Tonks and some other aurors as well. Don't worry, he'll be fine."

Sirius forced a smile and then played the host once more. "Well, if you'll follow me, I'll show you your rooms."

He turned to go upstairs and they all followed him. When they passed the Grangers' room, they came out to greet them. The Dursleys were relieved to see they wouldn't be the only 'normal' people in that scary place, and they were staying just next door. The Grangers had almost finished unpacking, so they went to the Dursleys' room to talk with them and see how they liked the decoration of the house.

"Do you wanna stay with your parents or with the young people?" Sirius asked Dudley. He started trembling just at being addressed by the wizard, and backed into his parents' new room.

Sirius looked a little bit surprised, and thought maybe the boy was a little bit retarded. He'd have to ask Harry about it afterwards. "Ok," he said with a very wide smile, talking slowly and very loud, "I gather you want to stay with your parents then. Let me tell you, though, that there are some pretty girls staying too. If you change your mind when you see them, just tell me and we'll move your things to another room, ok?"

Dudley looked at Harry and then nodded slowly. Harry was trying very hard not to laugh. At the beginning, he had thought having the Dursleys at Grimmauld Place would be agony, but now he realised it could turn out to be funny.

Sirius took then Arabella to another room. The old woman said she was very tired with all the stress and would go to bed, so they left her, and went on walking to the room where Ron and Harry had stayed the previous summer. Harry was very surprised to see that there was another bed in the room.

"Don't ask me," Sirius said, raising his hands to show his innocence, "I have no idea who else might be coming. Dumbledore has put some more beds in other rooms too. It seems we are gonna be quite crowded in here this summer."

As Remus had Harry's trunk and the Dursleys' suitcases, there wasn't much to do, so they all went to the kitchen, where Harry busied himself helping Sirius to prepare something to eat. The bacon was almost ready when the wards went down once more. Sirius and Harry took their wands. The Grangers and the Dursleys looked apprehensively at the kitchen's door. Dumbledore, Tonks, Moody and Shacklebolt were there.

"Mmmm, bacon!" Tonks cried delightedly, "Merlin, I'm starving." And took a sit in front of Mrs. Granger, who smiled at her. The others followed her example.

"Where is Lupin?" Sirius asked.

"Here!" A voice came from a little bit far away, and a very familiar hooting followed it. Obviously, Hedwig was with him.

"He's turning the Dursley's suitcases and Harry's trunk to their normal size," Dumbledore explained.

Sirius and Harry took a deep breath. Moony was ok.

The wards went down for what felt like the hundredth time that day.

"Headmaster!" Remus cried. Dumbledore and the other aurors were there in a flash. Sirius and Harry followed them too.

Remus was kneeling by Bill Weasley's body. Percy and Charlie were standing beside them. Their parents came right afterwards.

"Molly! Arthur!" Dumbledore approached them, sorrow in his blue eyes.

"Headmaster," Arthur said without preamble. "Our son has been hit with the Cathatis curse. A girl in St. Mungo's gave us something to contact a friend of hers, and ashanrii I think, so that she can save him. We need to take the wards down, though, so that she can get in."

"For how long?" The Headmaster asked.

"We don't know," Arthur admitted, "hopefully not very long," he said, looking at Bill's pale face.

Dumbledore looked at the floor. Taking the wards down was dangerous, but he wasn't going to loose a life if it could be avoided. "Ok," he said, and turned to the aurors behind him. "Each of you will cover a floor. Let's hope the Death Eaters aren't watching us and won't try to get in, but if you see one of them, cry out to warn the rest of us before even attacking. Sirius, you and Harry will stay with the Grangers and the Dursleys in the kitchen, just in case they need your protection. Remus, you and the Weasleys, follow me."

He then turned around and headed upstairs, to a spacious room where there was a big bed covered with white sheets.

"Here," the Headmaster said, "lay him on the bed." Percy and Charlie obeyed. Then Mrs. Weasley undressed Bill carefully.

"We must hide our wands, Headmaster," she told him, "the girl said her friend could think we were going to attack her or something."

Dumbledore nodded, and Remus and himself put their wands away.

"The water, Mum," Percy reminded her.

"Oh, yeah," she said, "we need a cauldron full of clean water and we must heat it on the fireplace."

Dumbledore took out his wand and a cauldron full of water appeared on the grate, flames under it. He then put away his wand once more.

Arthur and Molly looked at each other and then at Bill. Molly took a deep breath and said: "Ok, let's try this, then." She took the pin Sha-adi had given her and pressed the small green flower on it. It turned vivid red.

She had barely touched it, when a human figure appeared in front of them. It radiated an incredible amount on magical power. The newcomer was covered in a lengthy pink cloth from head to toe, then the cloth fell to the floor, and they all gasped. In front of them stood a tall girl with the most beautiful face they had ever seen. She had plenty of thick black hair that barely reached her shoulders, was wearing a pink kimono embroidered with gold and her Chinese eyes were alert and suspicious. She surveyed them all in turn, and then asked in an angry tone: 

"Where is Sha-adi?"

Mrs. Weasley showed her the pin and said, instinctively bowing: "She gave me this, my son is dying, she said you could cure him, he's been hit by the Cathatis curse."

The girl looked at the pin and then at the woman's face. She seemed sincere. She approached her cautiously and extended her right hand. Mrs. Weasley gave her the pin, and the girl took it without looking at it. Her eyes were surveying the body lying on the bed above Mrs. Weasley's head.

"I'm sorry," the girl said. "I cannot cure him."

Mrs. Weasley cried at this and threw herself at the girl's feet.

"Please, please you have to help us, I'll do whatever you want me to, I'll exchange my life for his, I'll..."

The girl kneeled and put her hands on Mrs. Weasley's arms, looking her in the eye.

"Sorry, I didn't express myself right. You didn't call me, you see. You called my older sister, but we knew Sha-adi wasn't in danger, because she would have used other means to contact us if that had been the case. We thought she only wanted to talk to us about something. My sister was bathing her youngest son, so I came in her place. I cannot heal your son, but she will. I'll go and bring her, ok?" The girl said, and smiled reassuringly at Mrs. Weasley. The woman couldn't discern the smile through her tears, but she had to hope the girl was saying the truth and she would come back, so she just nodded.

The girl disappeared in a flash. Arthur went to his wife, Remus and Dumbledore looked at each other, not knowing what to do. It didn't matter though, because the very next moment the girl was back, another girl at her side, wearing a red kimono embroidered with gold. She was extremely beautiful too and looked remarkably like her younger sister, only she was much shorter, and her hair was so long that it almost reached the floor. Six pairs of eyes fixed on her, but she ignored them all and went straight to Bill's side.

"I'll need boiling water," she said.

"Here," Remus said, going to the fireplace to take the cauldron.

"Not hot enough," the woman said, and then put her hand into the water and, to everybody's surprise, it started to boil. She didn't seem to care, though. After a while, she took her hand out of the water. It looked perfectly normal, not covered in boils, as it should have been.

She said something in Chinese to her sister, and the younger girl went to the other side of the bed, kneeled on it, at Bill's side, and put her hands on his chest.

"Maybe you shouldn't watch," the older ashanrii said, looking at the Weasleys.

"I'd rather stay," Mrs. Weasley managed to say.

The woman just nodded. She extended her left hand and suddenly a gold ornate dagger appeared in her palm. She took it with her right hand and before anybody could react, stabbed Bill in the heart. Her sister pushed the boy's chest with both hands, but no blood came out. An unearthly cry filled the room, and the water in the cauldron started to turn red.

The Weasleys were all petrified. Remus and Dumbledore couldn't even blink, the scene in front of them was too fascinating.

After a while, the cry started to sound muffled, as if from far away, and finally the voice extinguished completely. The water in the cauldron now looked as thick and as red as blood.

The older ashanrii said something to her sister, and she stopped pushing Bill's chest and then removed her hands from his body. The healer took the dagger off, went to the fireplace and put it in it, then came back, and put the blade of the dagger flat on the cut on Bill's chest. A small burning appeared there, and then disappeared, as if there had never been a wound at all.

The two girls went once more to the fire and put their hands in it, moving them in the flames as if they were washing them under water. Then the younger one went to Mrs. Weasley's side and stood there, while her sister went back to Bill, sat on the bed close to his head, bent, and kissed his lips soundly. Little by little, Bill started to react, as if he was just awakening from a deep slumber.

When the woman straightened again, he opened his eyes, blinking at first, and then looked around with surprise all over his face. He lifted his head a bit and looked around him once more. His parents, Charlie and Percy were there, all looking as white as ghosts, Remus Lupin and Dumbledore looked likewise speechless, and then he looked at an incredibly beautiful girl next to her mother and at another as wonderfully beautiful by his side. And then he realised he was completely naked in front of all this people, and he turned as red as his hair. Finally, he managed to utter "Mum?".

That was too much for Mrs. Weasley, who threw herself at her son's neck crying rivers of joy. Her husband took his glasses off to dry his tears too, and the other four men in the room breathed freely for the first time in the last minutes.

The older girl left the bed and went to the cauldron full of blood. She muttered something, and it disappeared. Then she put her right hand in her long left sleeve and after searching for something for a while, took off a tiny black nacreous bottle. She cleared her throat, and Mrs. Weasley let go of her son's neck very slowly, it was obvious it was costing her a great effort.

The girl gave Bill the bottle, and then said: "Drink this every night before going to bed. Just empty the bottle every night, and it will refill itself magically until your body doesn't need it anymore, then it will remain empty. Just keep it in a safe place, it will serve you as an amulet. Breaking it purposely or throwing it away would bring you bad luck. If it breaks by accident, you have nothing to worry about. We all have bad days sometimes." And then she smiled for the first time, and an indescribable sensation of wellbeing filled them all.

"How can I ever thank you?" Mrs. Weasley asked, wiping her tears with the back of her hand.

The woman just waved her hand as if taking importance off of the matter.

"Don't worry, I'm always glad to help if I can," she smiled. "Today I helped you, some other day you help someone else, that person helps another, and so on, until someday someone helps me, and then we are all happy."

Mrs. Weasley stared for a moment and then summoned her bag out of nowhere and started rummaging in it. Finally she took a small wrinkled piece of parchment and handed it to the woman. "This is our address," she said. "If you or any of your friends ever need our help, the Weasleys will do everything they can to help you."

The woman looked at the paper and then at Mrs. Weasley as if she had given her the most wonderful thing in the world. "Thanks," she said, and bowed deeply.

"No," Mrs. Weasley said, "I thank you." And bowed too.

At this point, Dumbledore cleared his throat and they all looked at him. To everybody's surprise, he started speaking in Chinese. Both girls listened intently and nodded now and then. They both responded to Dumbledore's questions, and put some more themselves. Meanwhile, the Weasleys had all joined Molly and Bill, and the poor boy had finally managed to ask Charlie to give him back his wand, so he could dress himself.

Remus Lupin stayed back, contemplating the bizarre scene in front of him and wondering if he would ever have the chance of having a loving family like Arthur Weasley had. The conversation between Dumbledore and the two ashanriis seemed to have come to an end, and Remus took the opportunity to remind Dumbledore that the wards on the house were still down.

"Yes," Dumbledore nodded tiredly, "we'll have to search the house, just to make sure nobody managed to get into it and hide."

"There are no Death Eaters here, if that's what you mean," the older girl said, "but I feel the presence of a convicted mass murderer downstairs."

Remus and Dumbledore looked equally astounded. Finally the older wizard managed to say: "It's ok, he was wrongly accused, he's working for me. In fact," he added, "we are at his parents' house right now."

The girl ahed appreciatively. "It's a wonderful house," she said.

Dumbledore couldn't help a tiny smile. He had to tell Sirius that. He was sure the expression on the young man's face would be worth seeing.

The Weasleys were all helping Bill get out of the bed, which made it much more difficult for him, of course.

"We have to go, my sons are waiting for me to go to bed," the older ashanrii said, and looked at her younger sister, who was looking at the Weasleys with an amused face. She nodded, and went to her sister's side.

"Wait!" Bill suddenly shouted. "Won't you tell me your name, so that I can at least know to whom I owe my life?"

"My name is Yamiko Sam, and this is my younger sister, Samako Sam." Then both girls bowed one last time, and disappeared.

"Remus, the wards," Dumbledore told the young wizard. They both started protecting the house again, and then went downstairs to tell the others the danger had past.

When Bill entered the kitchen, everybody else was already there. He felt as if they had prepared him a surprise birthday party, but he didn't complain. He was glad to be there.

*****

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Thanks for the reviews!

Thanks all for reading and reviewing!

I'm sorry some of you got scared when I made you think that Bill was dead. It wasn't my intention to upset you. I rescued Sirius from the dead, right?, so I'm not gonna kill someone else. Well, ok, I will, but only Death Eaters and the likes. There will be many near fatal 'accidents' in this story though, so I hope you have a strong heart. :D

I hope you liked Yamiko and Samako. We'll see more about them in later chapters.

Chapter 11 won't be so long, but in it we'll see some more familiar faces from the HP series.

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Kady Rilla Wholi: Do you mean I should classify the fic under Harry as a first or as a second option? As you can see, Lupin is very much alive. You didn't expect me to kill a relative, did you? We'll know some more about what happened to him after Harry and the Dursleys left Privet Drive in Chapter 12.

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hermionegreen: I hope you feel better now. Sorry I had to hurt Bill, but I needed a good excuse to introduce Yamiko and Samako, and I'll make it up to him in later chapters. I hope you enjoyed this chapter a little more.

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lilblondie2182: Thank you very much! Don't worry, Remus is safe with me.


	11. The Volunteers

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Disclaimer: The characters that look familiar to you belong to J. K. Rowling. The ones you cannot find in any of her books are mine. I don't intend to make any money out of this. I'm just having some fun.

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The Volunteers

Ginny helped Fred lay a bit on his stretcher and then turned to look around. Lots of people were moving between the beds and stretchers, healing small wounds and bruises. She didn't know where to start, so she searched for a familiar face while putting on the apron and the badge.

"Hi!" Someone said to her right. She turned to see the boy who had helped her brothers. "You've decided to join us?" He asked with a smile.

"Yes," Ginny said timidly, "my parents and my older brothers have taken Bill to a quiet place. The rest of us decided to stay with Fred, and while we wait..."

"Right. I just checked again about the potion. I'm afraid it's not ready yet. They are working on other more needed potions. I hope it won't be long, now. Do you have much experience healing wounds?"

"Well, not really, basically Fred's and George's," Ginny admitted.

"Oh, well," Benjamin replied amused, "I dare say that's probably more than enough. Come with me, you can work with someone else at the beginning, just look at what the others do and then you can go on by yourself. Let me see, who can teach you..." he said, scanning the room. "Right, follow me."

They went to the far right corner of the room and approached a girl whose back was turned on them. She was talking to an old woman whose face was covered in green bubbles.

"Cho?" Benjamin called her, and the girl turned. Ginny tried to smile politely, but it was very hard. Of all the people she could have worked with, it had to be precisely Cho Chang, the pretty Ravenclaw that had stolen Harry and then Michael Corner from her. The day was turning out to be just unforgettable.

"Cho, Miss Weasley has just joined the volunteer team. Why don't you show her how you work so that she can follow your example?" Benjamin asked, and then added, looking at Ginny: "Cho has helped us a lot. It turns out she has a knack for healing charms. I'm sure she is gonna be a good teacher too."

Ginny and Cho just smiled, both feeling very awkward.

"Ben," Cho said, "I'm not sure how to cure this woman's face, could you have a look at it, please?"

The boy nodded. "No problem, I'll take care of her, just go on to another patient."

Cho nodded and then said to Ginny: "This way, follow me, please."

***

Hermione descended the stairs and reached a landing where she could see three doors. There were no signs saying what was going on in each of them, and she had no idea where the potions lab could be.

"Miss Granger," a deep velvety voice said from behind her. Hermione turned to see none other than Professor Snape himself. "Nosing around?" The man asked.

Hermione felt a little bit offended, so she just pointed at the badge on her chest.

"I see... potions?" Professor Snape asked.

"Yes," Hermione said, "but I cannot find the lab."

"Lab?" The man asked. "I'm afraid that's only a muggle term, miss Granger. If I'm not mistaken, we are supposed to work in there," the man said pointing at the door to the left. "I've just arrived, but I've been helping some colleagues in St. Mungo's before, and that's usually where they work. Follow me."

He opened the door and stepped inside the room. It was dark, humid and filled with a nauseating mixture of different smells, like the Potion's class in the dungeons of Hogwarts. Hermione guessed they must be below street level here too. An old man with a beard and glasses approached them eagerly.

"Professor Snape!" He exclaimed gleefully. "What an honour, Sir. I presume you've come to help?"

Snape looked for a moment as if he was going to snap a sarcastic comment back like "No, I was just walking by, goodbye," but refrained in time and just nodded.

"Ok, let me see," the man said, and took a long parchment out of nowhere. "We have five people working on the Skelegrow Potion, five more on the Sneezefree Potion, five more on the Insomnus Potion and ten on different mild restoratives. We still need ten different kind of potions, and should probably start making some others we're running out of by the minute."

"May I?" Snape inquired, and took the parchment from the man's hands. He looked at the list of potions and then to the people working in the room. Hermione looked around likewise, and could see many familiar faces. Even... wait a minute? Wasn't that Pansy Parkinson?

"Do we have cauldrons enough?" The Potions Master asked.

"Yes, Professor, as many as you want." The man waved his wand and at least twenty cauldrons appeared in the far left corner of the room. Professor Snape nodded in approbation. "Miss Parkinson! Miss Zucchini!" he cried.

Pansy and an albino girl with long soft curls stopped preparing ingredients and looked at their professor.

"Those cauldrons at the end of the room, NOW!" Snape roared, and both girls complied immediately. Then he turned once more to the older man: "Those girls can do much more than just prepare ingredients, they are pretty good. Miss Granger here will be working with us too. We'll start with this four potions, he said, and pointed at four names on the list." The other man nodded his agreement and then Snape strode across the room to where the other two girls were waiting, Hermione following in his wake.

When they reached the cauldrons, Snape waved his wand and suddenly four tables appeared between the cauldrons, all of them together, forming a big square. Five cauldrons stood ready next to each table.

"Miss Parkinson, you'll be making the Bubbitis Potion. Miss Zucchini, you'll be working on the Blood Replenishing Potion, Miss Granger, you'll be doing the Dreamless Sleep Potion."

All girls nodded nervously in turn. Pansy approached the table in front of Snape's, Hermione was at his side, and the other girl was in front of her, next to Pansy. Snape waved his wand once more and the ingredients they would need for the different potions appeared on the tables, together with a parchment with the instructions.

"You're all clever enough to make those potions just following the instructions, although you've never attempted them before. I'll be surveying your work. If you make a mistake, I'll tell you. If I say nothing, just go on working, you don't need to show me every little thing you make. And if you tell any one I said you were 'clever', you can be sure I'll make you regret it for the rest of your lives."

Without another word, he started lightning fires under his cauldrons and then turned his attention to the ingredients on his table.

Hermione looked at the other two girls, they were already reading their instructions, so she turned her attention to hers.

***

Penelope reached the children's floor and looked around, wondering who could be Ms. Guillaume. The corridor was full of people, mostly injured children and healers. He saw the black woman who had helped the Weasleys and went over to her.

"Excuse me, Madam Pomfrey sent me to help. Do you happen to know who..." Penelope didn't finish her question, because just then the woman turned to her and she could read her name embroidered on her uniform. She was Ms. Guillaume.

The woman smiled at the girl. "You were looking for me, right?"

"Yes," Penelope said.

"Do you have any experience with children?"

"Well, I've been working in a kindergarten for the last two years, but I'm afraid I don't have much practice healing curses, just small bruises and the likes," Penelope explained.

Ms. Guillaume thought for a moment. "Go to that room at the end of the corridor," she finally said, pointing to her right. "You'll find a girl with green hair there..."

"Sha-adi?" Penelope asked. There weren't many people with green hair, were there?

The woman smiled at her. "I see you've met her already. She is looking after the healthy kids now. They are ok, but very scared. Most of them have seen their parents being attacked or even die. We are trying to distract them for a while and help them overcome the shock and the fear they feel. Tell Sha-adi I sent you to replace her. Ask her the information you think you need about the children and any other questions you may have, and then send her to me. She's got more experience with healing charms, so she can help me cure the injured children."

Penelope nodded and turned to go, but Miss Guillaume's voice stopped here.

"And dear," she said, "thanks for your help." Then the woman turned again and went on regrowing the leg of the little boy she had been tending.

***

Ron and George were already making their way to the people they were supposed to levitate to another place. It wasn't an easy task. People kept on stopping them to ask them to take their relatives first. It was difficult to leave them there waiting, but they couldn't do otherwise. They had to follow a kind of priority. If they waved their wands in a special kind of circle, a name appeared on a parchment they were carrying, the name of the person they were supposed to go to next. Then an orange flame would appear above that person, so that they could recognise them. Sometimes the flame wasn't even needed, many names were familiar to the Weasleys.

Ron took an unconscious Dean Thomas to the fourth floor, then Lee Jordan to the third one and Mrs. Finnigan, Seamus' mother, to the room where Ginny was working. Little by little, the volunteer team was getting bigger and bigger. Seamus joined the boys levitating people. Lavender Brown joined the small injuries team while she waited for his older brother's recovery. Susan Bones came alone, just to see if she could help, and Madame Pomfrey sent her upstairs to the children's floor.

***

It turned out Ginny and Cho worked very well together, though none of them would have ever guessed it. Cho was indeed a very good teacher, and Ginny learned very fast and even proposed some alternatives now and then. Cho decided Ginny could do very well on her own, so they split, but still kept on working on parallel beds, in case they needed to help each other.

After some time, Ginny finally found the courage to ask Cho about Michael Corner. The Ravenclaw turned a little bit red, but answered in a neutral tone:

"I don't know and I don't care. I didn't really like him, you know? It was a sort of strange affair. I think I just needed a shoulder to cry on, I wanted something to comfort me." She paused, and then added in a low voice, "I still dream of Cedric every night."

Ginny didn't know what to say. "I'm sorry," she finally uttered.

"That's ok," Cho said shrugging, "I need some time, that's all. Cedric was the first boy I ever fancied, and I lost him so soon and in such a sudden way... But I'm recovering now."

"Michael is not really that special," Ginny said boldly, "but I really thought you and Harry were bound to end up together, you know. He's been mad about you for the last three years."

Cho's head shot up at this: "Has he?" Then she lowered her eyes again to her patient and said: "No, I don't think so. You must be mistaken. We dated on Valentine's Day, and he kept on talking about that Granger girl, I think he fancies her if you ask me."

Ginny laughed a bit at that.

"What?" Cho asked a little bit annoyed.

"Nothing," Ginny said, "it's just that I think Harry doesn't know how to treat a girl, that's all. Hermione and him are only good friends, you can be sure of that." Ginny lowered her voice and leaned over her patient's bed to talk to Cho. "She fancies my brother Ron," she whispered conspiratorially. Cho's eyes rounded with surprise. "And he fancies her too," Ginny added with a mischievous smile.

"Wow! But they are not together, are they?" Cho asked, a little amused now.

"No," Ginny sighed, "but they will, just give them time."

"Ok, so Hermione fancies your brother," Cho said, "but that still doesn't mean that Harry does not fancy her."

Ginny shook her head. "No," she said," I'm positive about that. They are just very good friends, that's all. If he's ever had eyes for a girl, that's you. I should know, because I spent three years of my life watching his every move and look, hoping he would look my way and notice me, but he never did. At the beginning he didn't seem to care about anyone, he just didn't see me. But since you played that quidditch match three years ago, he's only had eyes for you."

Cho was feeling very guilty now. "Oh, Ginny, I'm sorry, I..."

"Wait a minute! The old woman Ginny was tending sat on her bed and asked nonplussed: "Do you mean she stole that block Michael from you and then this Harry-guy you liked?"

Ginny and Cho turned very red and looked at each other. Ginny took her wand and mouthed "Morpheus!", and the woman fell back on her bed and started snoring soundly.

"Good one," Cho muttered.

"Thanks!" Ginny said, and winked at her. "Maybe we should leave our love lives for a more convenient time."

They both giggled, and then went on talking about quidditch while they worked.

***

Sweat drops were running down Hermione's face. She had tied her hair up in a knot with her wand and was now busy checking her potion. She had added all the ingredients now, but she would have to wait still some time, because the potion had to simmer for a while. She looked up and around: Professor Snape was adding something revolting to a cauldron, Pansy was reading again her instructions while biting her upper lip in concentration. The girl in front of Hermione was stirring a cauldron. Her eyes were very red, and Hermione wondered if it was due to the potion's fumes or because someone she cared about was injured. She looked again at Professor Snape, he seemed to be absolutely concentrated on his work, so she decided she might as well try and speak to the girl.

"You finished Hogwarts last year, didn't you?" Hermione asked.

The girl looked up, surprised at being addressed by someone after so many minutes of complete silence. "Yeah," she said, "Anastasia Zucchini." And extended her hand above their cauldrons to shake Hermione's.

"Hermione Granger," the girl said smiling.

"I know," the girl smiled back, "who doesn't know the famous trio, Potter, Weasley and Granger?"

Hermione turned a bit red. "What house were you in?" She asked after a moment.

"Hufflepuff," the girl answered.

Hermione hesitated for a moment and then asked: "What brought you here?"

"To St. Mungo's?" The girl asked. Hermione nodded. "My mother was injured. Death Eaters attacked our home."

"How is she?" Hermione asked.

The girl looked down at her cauldrons and started stirring again their contents. "I'm not sure. She was hit by a freezing spell," she explained, "her lungs are frozen inside her chest. When they took her to a room they didn't know yet what to do about it." She paused, and then added as a matter of fact: "I offered myself as a volunteer right away. Waiting makes me nervous. I'd rather be busy while I wait."

"What about your father?" Hermione asked. "Was he injured as well?"

"I have no father," the girl said.

Hermione's eyes rounded for a moment, and the girl couldn't help laughing a bit.

"No, don't worry, my mother didn't create me with a strange spell if that's what you're afraid of. I have a father, but I've never met him. My mother told me he was a muggle. He couldn't cope with the fact my mother was a witch, so my mother obliviated him and then moved to England, she needed a change of scenery."

"So you are not English?"

"Well, I was born here, but my mother is Italian."

"I've never been to Italy," Hermione said, trying to lighten the mood.

"Me neither," the girl said, and shrugged.

"I hope you're able to work and gossip at the same time," a nasty voice said from Hermione's right, "because your potions should be ready by now, and they'd better be." Professor Snape looked as intimidating outside class as in it.

Both girls stepped aside to let him check their cauldrons. The man looked approvingly at their contents. "Very well, yours is ready Miss Granger. Do bottle it up carefully in this tiny bottles behind you." Hermione turned and saw for the first time a huge box with lots of small translucent bottles inside of it. "Then carry them carefully to Madam Pomfrey, she'll know what to do with them." He then turned to Anastasia. "Yours must simmer a couple of minutes more. Then you can bottle it up in the bottles behind you and take them to Madam Pomfrey too." The girl turned. Her bottles were twice as big as Hermione's. "When you finish," Professor Snape went on saying, "come back here and you'll start preparing different potions. I dare say there is enough of those now."

Hermione levitated the cauldrons off the fire and said the complicated spell to make the bottles fill and label themselves. She stood there surveying the process to make sure everything was ok. When the last bottle was filled and there wasn't any more potion left, she levitated the box and left the room, Anastasia was right behind her.

Madam Pomfrey was glad to see them. "Oh, dears, excellent job! Here," she said, "take these to Fred Weasley, will you? He must drink all of them," she said, handing Hermione three of Anastasia's bottles. "Dear," she added looking at Anastasia, "your mother is awake now, I was just going to go downstairs myself to tell you. You can go up and visit her. Fourth floor, second room to the left. Those ashanriis are just marvellous. I don't know what we would do without their help. Don't stay long, though, she needs to rest and you need to eat something."

"Professor Snape said we had to go back and help prepare some more potions," Hermione said.

"Nonsense, you have to eat and rest too. If you faint, you're not gonna be of much help. I'll talk to him. You just go to the refectory. It's in the top floor, I'm gonna send the other volunteers there in a moment."

Both girls went in separate directions. Hermione was walking carefully, she didn't want the bottles to fall. She looked up for a moment a saw Percy Weasley come in through the main doors and start searching for someone.

"Percy!" She called.

He saw her and went over to where she was standing. "Bill is ok!" he said without preamble.

"Oh!" Hermione said delighted, "how is he feeling? Are you bringing him back?"

"No, he's never looked better. When I left he was eating some roasted beef mum cooked in a flash. It's his favourite dish," he said smiling.

"These are for Fred," Hermione said, "right out of the cauldron."

"Ok, let me help you." Percy took a couple of bottles from Hermione's arms and then started searching for Fred.

"Look, there's Ron, he might know where Fred is," Hermione said, pointing at his friend.

Ron had seen them too and approached them. Percy and Hermione told him the good news and he took them to Fred. The boy was lying asleep. He looked very weak.

"Fred?" Hermione said, while Ron shook him a bit. The boy opened his eyes slowly and blinked. "Fred, I have your potion, you have to drink all of this."

Fred rolled his eyes, he was a wizard, not a desert. Ron helped him to sit and then he took the first bottle and drank it. He felt much better all of a sudden. Percy handed him the other two bottles, and he swallowed their contents without a grimace, then stretched and yawned.

"Do people never eat here? I'm starving!" He said, but then seemed to remember something and turned deadly serious. "How is Bill?" He asked, looking at the sheets covering his legs.

"He's ok," Percy said, slapping his back, "better than you, in fact, because he's already eaten."

They all laughed a bit, but then they heard a sob and turned around. Ginny was there, crying. She had never been so happy in her life. Their brothers were ok. Percy hugged her tenderly.

"I'd rather go and tell George," Ron said. "I'll be back in a minute."

***

Mrs. Weasley was so happy to have Bill back and Fred almost recovered, that she cooked the most wonderful meal anyone present had ever tasted. They all had second helpings, and some even a third. Harry felt at home, sitting between Sirius and Remus and in front of Moody. It didn't matter that the Dursleys were sitting at the same table, and strange enough, they looked quite relaxed, the company notwithstanding. Harry wasn't sure the wine didn't have something to do with it, though.

When they finished eating it was almost midnight. Most of them were unable to suppress their yawns any more, but Harry felt completely awake. He didn't want to go to bed, he was afraid of waking in the morning and realising it had all been a dream.

The wards went down once more, and Percy and Fred Weasley came in. The Weasleys rushed to welcome Fred. Percy explained that Hermione and the others had stayed in St. Mungo's. Mrs. Weasley looked a bit worried.

"It's ok, mum," Percy said. "When I left they were eating sandwiches and enjoying themselves. They've met a lot of friends from school there. I just came to bring Fred, but I was thinking in going back. There is still a lot to do there, although Madam Pomfrey said everything is under control now. There have been no attacks in the last hours, and many injured people have gone already back to their houses or to another safe place."

"Of course, dear, I'm being selfish," Molly said. "I should go myself and help in any way I can."

"No, Molly," her husband said. "You need to rest. You're gonna be more of a hindrance, you've been through enough for one day."

Mrs. Weasley sighed, but didn't complain. She was really tired.

"May I go with Percy?" Harry asked not knowing who to look at. It was strange to have so many people to look up to. Who should he obey? His godfather? Professor Lupin? The Weasleys?

"No, Harry," Dumbledore said, and that settled the matter. Harry didn't look happy at all. He wanted to see Ron and Hermione, and he wanted to help too.

"Harry," Lupin said, "I need your help here. I wanted to talk to you, if you are not too tired."

Harry had the suspicion Lupin was just trying to make him feel useful, but he had no other choice, so he said 'Good night' to everybody and went upstairs with Remus.

They went to the last room in the top floor. Lupin opened the door and lighted some candles with his wand. Harry stepped inside and almost fell. He managed to keep his balance at the last moment and looked surprised at Lupin. The werewolf was smiling.

"Soft, isn't it? We've treated the floor and the walls magically so that you won't hurt yourselves during class." Remus explained smiling.

"Class? What are you talking about Professor?"

Lupin took a parchment out of his pocket and gave it to Harry, it read 'Dumbledore's Army', and a list of names followed.

Harry knew that list, but why did Professor Lupin have it? He didn't need to ask him though, because Remus was more than willing to explain.

"If it weren't for the attacks today, tomorrow I would have started giving you Defence classes, basically duelling, although I plan on covering other subjects as well. What happened today is gonna delay our plans a bit, but Dumbledore still thinks I should teach you during the summer. No exams, no tests. It's up to you how much you are willing to learn." Remus paused for a moment. "At the beginning Dumbledore only had you in mind. I was supposed to teach only you, Harry. But then Sirius' return made him change his mind. My friend has been out of practice for very long, and so the Headmaster thought some training wouldn't be bad. So it was going to be you, him, and me. Just the three of us. I then pointed to him the fact that the Weasley kids and Hermione would be here too, so Dumbledore included them, and then Professor McGonagall reminded him of your little group at Hogwarts, and asked why shouldn't we include more people in the group. She didn't put it exactly like that, he said something like 'Albus, why don't you let other loyal students benefit from Professor Lupin's wonderful skills?'. As you may suppose, I couldn't object to such a compliment, and Dumbledore thought it was a good idea, and now we are going to be a big group."

Harry was feeling much better now. Classes with Lupin! That would be cool. And Sirius would be there too, wow!

"What do you need my help for?" Harry asked.

"Well," Lupin said, "I like to know my pupils' weaknesses and strengths from the beginning if possible. I know all of the people on the list, because you were all in my classes some years ago at Hogwarts, but I'm sure you have all learned a lot since then, and I wouldn't like to loose time with things you already know. So I thought you might be able to tell me how this people were doing in your class, if we should contact them all, and if you think there would be more people interested."

Harry thought for a moment, he could do that. "But what about the security of the house?" Harry asked. "Isn't it a bit dangerous to have so many people coming and going?"

"It's ok," Lupin said, "you see that door opposite to the one we got through?" Harry nodded. "The other students will come in and leave through it. They'll think at first they are in a room in The Leaky Cauldron. That's where they will be told to go. When they open a certain door there and step inside, though, they'll find themselves inside this room. The door in The Leaky Cauldron will be protected by a Secret Keeper, myself," Lupin said, pointing at himself, "so that only those we decide to allow to join our classes will be able to see it. Then, they all will stay here. Of course, we still have to ask your friends..." Lupin said, indicating the parchment with the names of the members of Dumbledore's Army, "if they are interested and if their parents allow them to come. Some of them may be able to stay the whole summer, others maybe just a couple of weeks."

Harry could find no objections to the plan, so he sat on the soft floor and started examining the list. Professor Lupin took a sit at his side, and they spent many hours talking about the old Dumbledore's Army and the future one.

*****

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Thanks for the reviews!

Thanks all for reading and reviewing!

First of all, let me tell you that this fic is going to be classified under Sirius Black and Harry Potter from the next chapter on. I guess it shouldn't matter much, but it will probably help you find it more easily. ;-) What do you think of the conversation between Ginny and Cho? In Chapter 12 the Order meets again and we'll know some more details about the Death Eaters' attacks and Dumbledore's plans.

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Kady Rilla Wholi: Ok, as you see, I'm going to follow your advice. Thanks! Don't worry too much about the ashanriis. There aren't so many, and you'll be seeing them in later chapters. I plan to write a chapter in which all the important ashanriis meet, and that should be enough to 'get to know them' a bit.

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hermionegreen: Thanks, I hope you liked this chapter too.

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hermionita: Thanks for your review. You don't happen to be Spanish, do you? The "-ita" in "Hermionita" is highly suspicious. ;-) You are the first one to realise -or at least comment- that there might be something between Sirius and Amanda in later chapters. It's still too early to know for sure, but I think there is some interest there, at least on Sirius' side.

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Makalani Astral: You're right about 'Sand**rine**' and 'dansa**rine**'. I just wanted the words to have a French 'touch' and I liked that ending very much, so I just used it. ;-) Sandrine and Neville will meet in a later chapter, and you'll see then why do they know each other.

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Believe: Thanks for your review. I'm glad you enjoyed all the action. In the following chapters the characters will take their time to recover from all the tension, but there will be some more spell-work soon.

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luv4snuffles: Wow! Thanks very much for taking the time to review several chapters at once. Don't worry too much about the ashanriis nor the other words related to them. I have just mentioned them so that they sound familiar to you when you see them in later chapters, but I will explain things in more detail later on. I think you're right about Muggles not being able to use the Floo network, that's why I made Harry throw the Floo powder and utter the destination. I hope Rowling doesn't mind. ;-) I don't really think the fireplace in Grimmauld Place is connected to the Floo network either, because it would be too risky for the Order, but I'm playing with the idea that people in the Order or related to them -like the younger Weasleys and Harry- could use it in case of emergency.

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Jade121: Thanks! I hope you liked this chapter too.

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Smiley: Well, here you have it. Did you mean 'how long more' until the next update or until the end of the story? I try to update every two or three days. I really don't know how long the story will be, but it's probably gonna be very long, because I'm already writing Chapter 13 and not even a week has passed yet. The story in this fic is supposed to go on until the end of October or the beginning of November, and we are still in the first week of July, so... Other weeks might not be as intense for our friends, though. ;-)

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angelwings6117: Oh, please, don't cry, they are fine, you see? The mood was a little bit lighter in this chapter, I hope you liked it too.

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SunnyChika: Thanks! If you are afraid I could stop writing after the summer, you have no reason to worry, because I will definitely go on writing as long as people seem to have an interest in my fic. ;-)


	12. The Meeting Of The Order

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Disclaimer: The characters that look familiar to you belong to J. K. Rowling. The ones you cannot find in any of her books are mine. I don't intend to make any money out of this. I'm just having some fun.

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The Meeting of the Order

The Volunteers went downstairs together, some of them stopping in the upper floors to go on with their assigned tasks, others going further down, like Hermione and Anastasia, who were working in the lowest floor.

When they opened the door, they spotted Professor Snape at once. Pansy Parkinson was with him too. She looked very tired. She hadn't joined them upstairs, so she was probably the only volunteer who hadn't eaten a thing for hours.

Both girls approached the man, who had his back turned on them and was checking a cauldron.

"Professor?" Hermione finally said.

Severus Snape turned with his familiar sneer in place. "Oh! What an honour! I see you have finally decided to come back!" He spat.

Hermione and Anastasia swallowed, but didn't dare say a thing.

"Miss Parkinson! Have you added all the daphoidel to your cauldrons?" The girl nodded. "Right then, come with me." Then he turned to the two girls again and said: "Miss Parkinson and myself are going to eat something. Miss Zucchini, you will keep an eye on these cauldrons. We were preparing three different potions. You'll find three parchments on your table with the instructions for each one of them. The phase in which each potion is now will appear underlined in red on the parchment. When the phase changes, the red line will move accordingly, so that you know when you have to add another ingredient or stir the potions. If you spoil any of the potions, I'll have you cleaning cauldron bottoms for a week without magic, and I don't care that you are no longer my student. Did I make myself clear?"

"Yes, Sir," the girl answered.

"Very well. Miss Granger," he went on saying, "You'll work now on Rasputin's Potion. It's very dangerous, so for your own wellbeing, be careful. You can use those cauldrons there. I've left the parchment with the instructions on the table next to them. Understood?"

"Yes, Professor," Hermione said, and went straight to her table.

When Snape and Pansy Parkinson left, Anastasia and Hermione didn't have much time for talking and just concentrated in their work, but they were both wondering what was the Slytherin girl doing there and why she hadn't joined the other volunteers in the refectory.

***

Ginny and Cho didn't have much chance to talk either. The people injured during the Death Eater attacks were almost all back home or in another floor, attended by healers, but there were still many people coming to the Hospital with lesser injuries they had tried to cure themselves. In most cases, it was more difficult to repair the damage done by the wrong healing spell than it would have been healing the original wound.

Benjamin was still working frantically, but he managed to smile all of the time so his patients would relax a bit. As far as the girls knew, he hadn't had a break yet.

***

Penelope didn't have much to do. It had been hell trying to calm the children, but now they were all soundly asleep, some of them whimpering a bit in their slumber. Anyway, most of them had been taken away by their parents or other relatives, so there weren't many left.

The boys weren't very busy either. The entrance hall was empty for the first time in many hours, and the few people that came in could walk by themselves or just wanted to visit someone.

Many of the volunteers started to go home, Neville Longbottom and Susan Bones between them, but the Weasleys didn't want to leave without Ginny, Hermione and Penelope, so Madam Pomfrey sent them all to different floors so that they could help there.

When the morning broke, all the volunteers looked exhausted, although not as much as St. Mungo's staff. Around seven, Madam Pomfrey finally congregated them all in the entrance hall to thank them for their efforts and to tell them they could go home now to get a most deserved rest. Some of the staff members joined them, and applauded them for their work. Then Sabella Santos, the Head Healer at St. Mungo's, thanked them once more in the name of all the injured and all the staff, and said that she would make sure Headmaster Dumbledore knew how much his students had helped save lives. It was strangely gratifying.

***

The next morning Harry couldn't stop yawning, it didn't matter that he had been under the cool water of the shower for almost half an hour nor that he was on his second white coffee. He had been talking with Professor Lupin until late at night, and though it had been very interesting, he was exhausted. He didn't mind the exhaustion, though, he was going to be able to help. Really help. Remus had been very much interested in what he had to say, and had asked him to help him plan the classes. Harry felt useful to the Order for the first time.

Professor Lupin looked wide awake, but a little bit tired too. For him, a night without sleep could never be worse than the night of the full moon. If he was in his human form, he could work for hours without end.

Sirius was full of energy. He had had a good rest and was busy once more cleaning the house. There were many rooms they hadn't even dared to open yet, and now that the house was so crowded, they were probably going to need them.

The Dursleys still moved in a pack around the house. It was as if they were scared someone would attack them if they dared split. They rarely talked to a wizard or a witch, unless expressly addressed by one of them, and only Aunt Petunia had been bold enough to ask Professor Lupin how long did he think they should stay.

The Grangers, for their part, had made themselves quite comfortable. Mr. Granger had found some interesting books on natural remedies in the Blacks' vast library and Mrs. Granger had gone to the garden of the house and was enjoying the warm July sun. They wanted to help, but they knew there was little they could do for these people, so they just tried to keep out of their way.

Mrs. Weasley was the happiest of women that morning. Her kids were all safe and sound, and even Percy had come back to them. Her husband hadn't been able to forgive Percy so soon, but still he managed to talk to him politely, and Molly was sure that in time they would be back to how things used to be while Percy was still at school.

Dumbledore and the aurors hadn't stayed for the night, and Mrs. Figg had left early in the morning, because she was worried about her cats.

Harry was on his second helping of bacon when the wards on the house went down, but this time he didn't even bother to go and see who it was. He was too sleepy, and there were people enough in the house to defend it in case they were attacked.

Sirius went to open the door, and a minute afterwards a very tired-looking Hermione, Ron, George and Ginny came in.

"My life for a cup of coffee!" George said dramatically before letting himself fall into a chair.

Ron and the girls didn't greet them either. They were glad to see them all, specially Harry, but they were just too tired.

Mrs. Weasley immediately busied herself serving her kids and Hermione the most copious breakfast they had ever had in their life, hugging them in turn and telling them how proud she was of them all for being so brave and good.

When they finished eating, they felt a little bit better, but not really up to much talking. Harry took them to their rooms, the same ones they had stayed in the previous summer, and then went back downstairs to meet Professor Lupin. There would be a lot of time to talk with his friends, but now they needed to rest and he and Lupin had to go on working on the lesson plans.

*****

Four hours later, Harry and Remus were still sitting at a table in what had been Sirius' grandfather favourite room: his study. They had so many piles of books in front of them, that Mrs. Weasley couldn't see them when she entered the room, and at first thought they had gone somewhere else. Harry opened just then a very dusty volume and sneezed. Mrs. Weasley, who had almost closed the door, walked inside again and called:

"Harry? Professor Lupin? Are you there?"

Both Harry and Lupin jumped. They had been so immersed in their respective readings that they hadn't heard Mrs. Weasley.

"We are here, Molly," Lupin said, inclining his body to the right, so that his head could be seen next to the pile of books in front of him.

"Professor, the Headmaster is here. There will be a meeting of the Order in ten minutes or so. We are still waiting for Professor Snape, but he is supposed to be here soon."

"I don't remember there was a meeting scheduled for today," Remus said, putting a spell on the page of the book he was reading to mark it so that he could go on reading it afterwards.

"No," Molly said, "there was none, but I guess the Headmaster wants to analyse what happened yesterday and tell us how things stand now."

Remus stood and nodded. "I'm not sure I want to know how many attacks there were yesterday nor how many people died," he said grimly.

"Me neither," Mrs. Weasley sighed. "Let's hope he has some good news too, although I can't imagine what."

"Professor?" Harry interrupted. "Can I come too?" He asked hopefully. Harry felt he had a right to know what was going on.

"I'm afraid you cannot, Harry," Remus said. "I'll ask the Headmaster though, maybe you could be there when we discuss certain subjects." Harry smiled at him, that would be a good start. "We'll go on with this after the meeting," Lupin went on saying.

"Oh, no, you won't," Molly said, "after the meeting you are both going to have lunch. You haven't eaten a thing for hours, and you both look as if you could do with a little more weight."

Lupin smiled, he always enjoyed having Molly Weasley bossing him around, it was almost like having back his own mother. "Ok, then, after lunch it is."

Harry agreed, and went downstairs with them, hoping to be let into the meeting. He wasn't the only one though, Fred and George Weasley had cornered their father behind a sofa and were begging him to let them in.

"We are already adults, Dad," George was saying.

"Yeah, and we've finished school..." Fred added.

"NO, you have NOT," their mother said, still descending the last steps. She hadn't been pleased with the twins' decision of leaving Hogwarts before the usual time. Both boys groaned, now that their mother had joined the discussion, they knew they didn't stand a chance. Mr. Weasley, on the other hand, looked very relieved to see his wife.

The wards went down once more and Professor Snape entered the house. He looked around the room and spotted the person he had been looking for:

"Why, Black. I see there is no way of getting rid of you."

Both Sirius and Harry tensed, but the Headmaster interceded, choosing to ignore the tension between the two men.

"Severus! Excellent! Now that we are all here, the meeting can begin," he said, and started for the kitchen. The rest of the members of the Order followed the old wizard. Snape and Sirius lagged behind, but Lupin saw their intentions and stayed too, stepping between the two of them.

"Wizards first," he said, and bowed to them both in an attempt to lighten the mood. It didn't exactly work, but at least both men stopped staring daggers at each other and walked into the kitchen, none of them wanted the usually mild werewolf mad at them. Lupin went in last and closed the door behind him.

Sleepy voices could be heard coming downstairs. Harry turned, and saw Ron and Hermione smiling at him with puffed eyes.

"I'm starving," Ron said.

"Bad luck, little bro," Fred said, "a meeting of the Order has just started, and I'm sure it's gonna be pretty long."

"I have some chocolate frogs upstairs, Ron," Harry said.

Ron thought for a moment. "Well, better than nothing I guess."

Hermione rolled her eyes, but turned mid-step and started going back upstairs. Harry followed and they made themselves comfortable in his and Ron's room. The twins went to their room to see if they could still find an extendable ear they had left there the previous summer.

Hermione and Ron both told Harry how they had been attacked, and then Harry started telling them all about his escape from Privet Drive and Sirius' resurrection.

***

Dumbledore cleared his throat and looked at all the men and women congregated there. For a moment, he wondered dejectedly how many of them would survive the war, but then shook his black thoughts out of his mind, there were more pressing matters at hand.

"As you may suppose, the reason I asked you all to be here today is because yesterday's attacks change a lot of things. And I mean _a lot_." Nobody said a thing, so the Headmaster just went on talking. "As I had feared, Fudge's blindness has allowed Voldemort to recover his strength and also to get back his old Death Eaters and even win over some more. Moody, please, tell them your conclusions about yesterday's attacks."

Moody fixed his normal eye on the table, but with his magical one he looked in turn at each of the members of the Order. "New Death Eaters, lots of them. Snape had already warned us about it, but still we didn't think there would be so many. We think yesterday was a kind of test for many of them, their first attack, they had to kill people to show they were loyal to their new master. There were old Death Eaters directing every attack, but most of the attackers were young boys, some of them fresh from Hogwarts, others hadn't even finished school yet. They weren't so powerful nor so skilled, and we must be thankful for that, because otherwise we are sure the death toll would have been at least twice as high, and there were fourteen deaths yesterday, which is bad enough." Moody paused for a moment. Everybody was looking at the table, it seemed to be very interesting. "Shacklebolt, maybe you can tell us about the attack at the Weasleys."

Shacklebolt nodded. "We got thirty-three Death Eaters around the house. Ten were dead, the rest were mostly stunned or in a full body binding."

"I killed two of them," Snape said, "I thought about stunning them, but I couldn't run the risk they would escape the aurors afterwards and went back to the Dark Lord. It would be very suspicious that someone had attacked them from behind, so Voldemort would probably suspect a traitor in his rows, and I would have had all the numbers then. As I told you, he doesn't trust me yet as he used to. When we went back yesterday after the attack on the Weasleys, he seemed to be happy with how things had gone. He knew most of the Death Eaters weren't very skilled, and he was glad that more of them escaped the aurors than he had dared to hope. He was putting his new followers to the test, and they passed it with honours." He said with a grim look in his face, and then added, looking at Dumbledore: "I really had to kill those kids, Headmaster, I really had to."

The Headmaster just nodded sadly. "How many went there, Severus?"

Snape took a deep breath: "Fifty."

There was a general murmur of surprise at that.

"The Dark Lord seems to have the Weasleys in a very high esteem." Snape went on saying. "They are a pureblood family, two powerful parents and six grownup boys. I bet his opinion of them is even better now."

"What about the other eight dead Death Eaters?" McGonagall asked.

"Five of them were found behind the house. They all had been hit by the fireworks the Weasleys threw through the windows." Shacklebolt went on explaining. "The other three were in the front part. One of them was an old 'friend' of us, Rabastan Lestrange, he died in hitting his head with a rock when he was stunned. We analysed his wand, he was the one who almost killed Bill. We think the other two were killed by other Death Eaters who missed when attacking the Weasleys and hit their companions instead."

During all of this speech, Arthur and Molly had remained silent, holding hands under the table, thinking how lucky they had been to survive.

"Very well," Albus said, "what about the other attacks?"

"Three new Death Eaters went to the Grangers," Moody said, "I bet they thought it would be easy, because only Hermione is a witch, and there would be three of them. They didn't expect Tonks to be there, nor the Grangers to defend themselves as well as they could." At this, he and Shacklebolt couldn't help a chuckle.

"Mrs. Granger got a Death Eater hitting him with a frying pan," Shacklebolt said, and they all laughed a bit, which did them good.

"Something similar happened in other muggleborns' homes. The Death Eaters didn't worry much about the parents and just went for the kids first. I bet they've learned their lesson by now. Next time, they will be ready to attack the parents as well." Moody went on saying. "Privet Drive was a different matter, though. It is obvious Voldemort has a high opinion of Harry's abilities, so he sent fourteen Death Eaters to get him, some of them new, but all of them grown up wizards and witches, no kids this time. Of course, it was lucky Lupin was there. He took seven down on his own before we even moved." All the eyes in the room turned with admiration to Lupin, who concentrated himself on a parchment lying on the table. "Harry must have taken the three we found between the Dursleys' home and Mrs. Figg's. We only had to take care of the rest."

"Anything of interest apart from that?" Albus asked him.

"Well..." Moody said, scratching his chin, "we thought it was significant that the Death Eaters concentrated themselves in muggleborns' houses and also in Ministry workers. Apart from Arthur here, eleven other Ministry employees were attacked. Only one of them is still in St. Mungo's, Selena Zucchini, but she is recovering very fast. When we got there, her daughter had cornered three Death Eaters on her own and had stunned two more before that. There was a dead Death Eater too. One of your students Snape, Marcus Flint."

"Flint?" McGonagall inquired. "But wasn't he...?" She asked looking at Snape.

He knew perfectly well what she meant. "Her boyfriend, yes."

"What?" Tonks couldn't believe her ears. "Her boyfriend attacked her and her mother?"

"He did," Shacklebolt said, "he was the one who cursed Selena with a very powerful freezing spell. No wonder the girl reacted like that, although I must admit I find it a little disturbing that such a young girl was able to use the Avada Kedavra curse effectively."

"Well, imagine the hate she must have felt," Bill Weasley said. The others didn't comment, but Lupin wrote something on the parchment in front of him.

"Anything else?" Albus asked once more.

"No," Moody said, and Shacklebolt nodded his agreement, "I think that's all we had to say."

"Ok, then, Dumbledore said, next subject: Sirius Black and Harry Potter."

Sirius' head shot up at this.

"I have informed you all of what happened to Sirius, so no need to go back to that subject again. I just wanted to welcome him back once more to our rows. I wanted also to inform you that Sirius is going to be working on the house during the summer. We think Voldemort doesn't know yet that he is alive, so I'd rather keep him hidden for now. He is going to train himself with Lupin, because he hasn't had much chance to practice his skills since before Azkaban, and when the school year starts, I want him to come to Hogwarts to reinforce the security of the castle. I'm not sure yet how we are going to go about that, if we are going to have Sirius as himself or disguised and under a false name, but we still have almost two months to worry about the details."

Everyone seemed content with these arrangements but Snape, of course, who glared at Sirius as if wanting him to melt on the spot. Sirius ignored his nemesis this time, though, and looked at Lupin instead, who gave him the thumbs up to congratulate him for his new job.

"Harry will be training himself with Lupin too, and we've also thought to include in this little training sessions a group of outstanding Hogwarts students. Lupin, would you please explain who do you intend to ask to join your classes?"

Lupin nodded and stood: "Well, first of all, let me tell you that last year some students, seeing how little they were going to learn with Dolores Umbridge, decided to train themselves as well as they could. Harry was the teacher, because he had already encountered Voldemort several times, fought Dementors and survived many other threats. This little group called themselves 'Dumbledore's Army'...". Some people smiled at this and they all looked at the Headmaster, who looked very proud of his students. "I've talked it over with Harry, and it seems they learned a lot by themselves. I've decided to ask all of those students to join our training sessions, I have the names here," Lupin said, and then started to read the names from a parchment: "Neville Longbottom..." Snape snorted at this, but Lupin ignored him and just went on reading, "Lavender Brown, Parvati and Padma Patil, Dean Thomas, Seamus Finnigan..." McGonagall was beyond herself with joy, those were all Gryffindors, and Lupin went on, "Cho Chang, Zacharias Smith, Anthony Goldstein, Michael Corner, Ernie McMillan, Susan Bones, Luna Lovegood, Justin Finch-Fletchley, Colin and Dennis Creevey, Terry Boot, Alicia Spinet, Katie Bell, Angelina Johnson, Lee Jordan..." Mrs. Weasley groaned, she dreaded the moment the twins and Lee would get together, but Lupin was already going on, "Hannah Abbott, and of course, Harry Potter, Hermione Granger and the Weasleys, Fred, George, Ron and Ginny."

"Not Ginny!" Mrs. Weasley complained, "She is too young."

A discussion followed on whether there should be an age limit or not, but it was quickly put an end to by Snape:

"Mrs. Weasley, I was in the back of your house when Rastaban Lestrange cursed Bill, but I could see it from where I was standing, because I was trying to know what was going on in both fronts. That's how I saw Ginny stun _four_ Death Eaters at once."

Everybody was awed at this news and looked at the Weasleys with admiration. The Weasleys weren't less surprised than them. Their little girl? Did she really take four Death Eaters with one spell?

"I insist on her joining the group," Snape said.

When Molly didn't speak, Lupin said: "Agreed then," and ticked Ginny's name on the list. Then said: "Well, after listening to what have been said about the attacks, I thought maybe we should include Anastasia Zucchini too. She seems to be very good, and if I'm not mistaken, her mother would have to stay some time in St. Mungo's, so otherwise she will be alone at home."

"Oh, no!" Molly's motherly instincts rebelled against the very thought of a young girl alone at home on these days. "Headmaster, she must stay with us, at least until her mother recovers."

"I think that's an excellent idea, Molly," Dumbledore agreed.

"Headmaster, she used an Unforgivable, won't she be sent to Azkaban?" Charlie asked.

"No," Shacklebolt answered. "It was an obvious case of self-defence. She will have to attend an inquiry, but she'll be left out. Your brothers too."

"What?" Arthur Weasley asked at once.

"It's procedure Arthur. Although nobody used the Avada Kedavra curse at the Burrow, well, nobody save Snape I mean, those fireworks killed five people. It was self-defence and they will be back home right after the inquiry, but Fred and George will have to attend it anyway. You know they have to, Arthur."

Mr. Weasley nodded silently. The other Weasleys didn't comment either. They knew everything would be ok.

Moody didn't look too happy either, "Albus, this place is turning out to be more a hotel than a hiding place. We can't have so many people coming and going, and even less staying."

Albus nodded tiredly, but then said: "I agree with you Alastor, but I'm afraid we are going to have to move headquarters to another place anyway. The Malfoys know we are staying here, because Kreacher told them. The place is unplottable, but it's only a matter of time until Voldemort finds it anyway. We cannot take such a risk, so we'll have to move. I'm just waiting for a certain meeting I want to conduct here before moving, and that takes us to the last point on our agenda today." He looked at them all intently. "In six days we will receive here some very important guests, and I must admit I've put a lot of hope in that meeting." He paused here, nobody dared to breath. "Ashanriis," the Headmaster announced with his eyes twinkling.

At once almost everyone in the room started talking and expressing their wonder. When they calmed themselves a bit, Dumbledore went on:

"Before I explain much further, I think it's time to call the kids."

"But Albus..." Mrs. Weasley started to complain. The old wizard lifted a hand to make her listen to him.

"Molly, the ashanriis have a very strict code of conduct. Etiquette is very important for them, and we must observe it while they are here. We must _all_ observe it, the kids included, so I'd rather they join us now so that I don't have to repeat everything twice." Mrs. Weasley didn't look happy, but she didn't object either, so the Headmaster nodded to Remus and he left the kitchen to search for the kids."

"And where are we going to move to, Albus?" Shacklebolt said.

"I'm not sure yet," the Headmaster said. "I have different options in mind, but I'm hoping the ashanriis will let us stay at a place protected by them, a place the Death Eaters cannot get into."

The members of the Order looked at each other at this. Did such a place exist? Would the ashanriis let them stay there?

Lupin came back, all the kids behind him, looking both apprehensive and very curious. Harry took a sit by Sirius, Hermione sat next to Tonks, and the Weasleys sat behind their parents, Bill and Charlie.

"Welcome all," the Headmaster said, smiling at them. "There is something I wanted you all to know, so I asked Remus to bring you down." Dumbledore looked at all the kids, and then went on explaining: "I'm glad to announce that in six days time we'll be receiving some very honourable guests in this house, a committee of very distinguished fuocciris. I'm sure most of you had never heard of the ashanriis before or, if you had, you thought they were nothing more than a legend, but the truth is that they exist, and there are so many of them that they even divide themselves in different castes. I won't go now into detail, because I'm sure you'll find information enough on them in books..." Harry and Ron chanced a glance at Hermione, who was listening rapturously to every single word the Headmaster was saying, "so I'll just tell you that our visitors belong to the fuocciri caste. Now, this caste is the most numerous and powerful of them all, because they are warriors and, unlike other castes, the fuocciris have remained together through the years, no internal battles nor treacheries, and that has made them much more stronger than any other ashanriis. I must admit I had little hope of being able to contact them, because they are very strict regarding rules, and there is a very important ashanrii rule that says that they shouldn't interfere in wizards' business, which is the way they see Voldemort's threat. Now, the circumstances brought two of them yesterday to this very house. They came to heal Bill Weasley from an otherwise deadly curse, and then I took the chance to ask them to deliver a message from us to their Princess, requesting an interview. They were kind enough to honour my request and this morning an eagle awoke me at Hogwarts to deliver a message from the fuocciri Princess herself, saying that she would gladly meet me and 'my friends', as she called you." The Headmaster smiled at this, but everybody was so excited about this news, that it was some time before anybody talked. It was Mrs. Weasley:

"I knew those girls would help us. They came here to save my son when they had nothing to do with what was going on. What did they care if a wizard died or not? But they still saved him, and they didn't even want to be thanked for it!" Mrs. Weasley's voice trembled when remembering the previous day and how close to death his oldest son had been. Everybody looked astounded at Bill and then at Mrs. Weasley. Only those present in the room where Bill had been cured knew what had happened, but they hadn't told them about it yet.

"As I was saying before," Dumbledore went on speaking, "the ashanriis have a very strict code of conduct. We must observe the etiquette, dress properly and bow when due. I'm sure you're gonna find it a little bit annoying at first, but it's a necessary evil. We need the fuocciris support in this war, and I'll kiss their feet if I have to to get it." Some eyebrows rose in hearing the last comment, but nobody dared interrupt. "Of course, you don't need to be here. The fewer we are, the better. But the people who are usually staying here will have to meet them. And any of you curious to meet them, can join us too." Tonks moved nervously in her chair. "Severus and Minerva are both familiar with the ashanriis customs and traditions, and they will be teaching you how to behave in their presence. Severus has been kind enough to make a list of the most important things to be taken into account, and Minerva will stay here and help you practice, or meet you at Hogwarts, to give you some lessons too." Harry and Ron couldn't avoid a sigh of relieve in hearing that Professor McGonagall would stay and not Snape, better the strict cat-woman than the greasy git.

"Any questions?" The Headmaster inquired after letting them chew the news for a while.

Hermione raised her hand promptly. Snape and Ron both rolled their eyes.

"Yes, Hermione?" Dumbledore said amused.

"Professor, what about my parents and the Dursleys?" The girl asked.

They all turned to her. They had completely forgotten about them.

"Well, the fuocciris won't be staying long, although I hope the meeting won't be too short either. If they just stay in their rooms while they are here, there is no reason to trouble them about it."

Sirius was the next to ask:

"What about Fudge? Is he co-operating now or does he still put obstacles in our way?"

Dumbledore sighed. "Well, he has finally accepted that Voldemort is back. Pity it took him so long," the Headmaster added with a note of disgust none of the others where used to hear in his voice. "Now he is so scared that he doesn't know what decision to take and is only saying 'yes' to anything people ask him. That's dangerous as well, because some requests might come from people allied to Voldemort who haven't been found out yet. The positive part, though, is that he is accepting as well everything I propose to him. That reminds me I should have told you before that the Legislation for Underage Use of Magic is being revised and it's probably going to be modified." Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny all stopped breathing at this, listening intently to what the old wizard had to say. "Until Voldemort is finally defeated, underage wizards and witches will be able to use magic as adults do. Yesterday's attacks made the people in the Ministry see that it's very dangerous to leave the children defenceless, because the Death Eaters are gonna stop at nothing. The high rate of injured children says so. Of course, very small children won't be able to defend themselves, but still, boys and girls attending Hogwarts, even first years, would have a better possibility of escaping with a wand than without it."

"That's why I didn't receive this time a letter from the Ministry when I used my wand to defend myself and the Dursleys from the Death Eaters following us?" Harry asked.

"I didn't get one either," Ron said, and Ginny nodded to show that she hadn't either.

The Headmaster smiled benignly at them all. "Yes, and you weren't the only ones. The Ministry is going to overlook all the spells cast yesterday by underage wizards and witches, as they were mostly for self-defence. You shouldn't use your wands very often, though, at least until the law is revised. I don't think it will take more than one or two days. Mrs. Bones is working on it night and day, and many people support her. Everybody has children of their own or have friends or relatives who have children. They all realise this change in the legislation is for the best."

At this, Hermione said in a shocked voice: "Oh, Professor! I had promised Mrs. Bones I would write a report for her about the Death Eaters' attack on my house, as an example of how I had to use magic to defend myself and my parents. I forgot, what with the attack on the Weasleys and then staying at St. Mungo's to work as a volunteer..."

Dumbledore smiled at her. "Don't worry, Miss Granger, I'm sure Mrs. Bones won't mind it if your report takes a little bit longer to be written. I'm sure you'll offer her plenty of details she will find very useful. Just take your time."

"Ok, thanks," Hermione muttered, her cheeks a little bit red because of the implied compliment.

After that, the meeting ended and most of the members of the Order left again. Professor Snape stayed behind talking with Professor McGonagall, and the Weasleys took the opportunity to thank him for his help during the attack on the Burrow. Then everybody stayed in the kitchen to have lunch, and Professor Snape left. Before he opened the door of the house, though, George called him:

"Professor?"

Snape turned, a little bit annoyed. He wanted to go back to Hogwarts and have some rest. He had come straight from St. Mungo's, where he had been working until then.

"Yes, Weasley?" He inquired, his left eyebrow arched in annoyance.

George stuttered a bit: "I... I..."

Snape sighed and rolled his eyes in exasperation before fixing them again on George.

"I just wanted to thank you again for everything," the boy finally said. "And... to tell you... that I understand... you had to kill those people," he added awkwardly. "Thanks!" He said, and offered his hand to his old Professor.

Snape looked intently at the boy, without annoyance on his face this time, just mild surprise. "You're welcome, Weasley," he finally said in his smooth silky voice, and shook George's hand. Then turned and left.

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Thanks for the reviews!

Thanks all for reading and reviewing!

I got some problems getting the reviews this time. The review alert function didn't work. If you sent me a review and I don't mention you now, I didn't get it. Sorry about that.

Sorry I didn't update sooner, work got in the way.

I'm having a lot of trouble with Chapter 14, so the next update might take a while too, though I definitely want to finish Chapter 14 today, if the characters in this story don't go on strike again, of course. ;-)

I got some reviews complaining that I would be pairing Cho and Harry. It's not a definitive thing yet, but I probably will, because I have other plans for Ginny, and I'm gonna pair Hermione and Ron. Of course I could choose another girl for Harry, but I happen to like Cho, so she has many points. I don't think Harry will end up with Cho in Rowling's books, but that's precisely the fun of writing fan fiction, to explore what could happen and probably won't, so don't get too upset, ok? This fic is about much more than just romance, and although there will be certainly some, the chapters will deal more with the fight against Voldemort and the search for allies.

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hermionegreen: Thank you very much. I hope you liked this chapter too.

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Sammie Tonks: Thanks! I hope you go on reading.

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Nitte iz: I hope there will be many unexpected things in this fic. ;-)

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Iniysa: Thanks! I hope you liked this chapter too.

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angelwings6117: Ok, maybe Rowling's Cho doesn't deserve Harry, but my Cho is gonna be a little bit different, give her a chance, ok? ;-)

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hermionita: I'm glad to see I'm not the only Spanish-speaking HP-fan crazy enough to read -and write- fan fiction in English. ;-) I'm very happy you liked Ginny and Cho's conversation. It's the part I like the most in that chapter.

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Lily Skylo: Thanks for your two reviews! :-) Good guess! I'm afraid I can't confirm your suspicions just yet, you'll have to wait until Edvard comes back into the story, probably in Chapter 16 or something like that.

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Cho Sucks! and **dumb:** I'm sorry you don't like my fic. I'm sure you'll find soon enough another one you really like. ;-)


	13. Summer Courses

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Disclaimer: The characters that look familiar to you belong to J. K. Rowling. The ones you cannot find in any of her books are mine. I don't intend to make any money out of this. I'm just having some fun.

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Summer Courses

The first days after the attacks went by in a flash. Most of the members of the Order went back to their usual jobs, and only Mrs. Weasley, Sirius and Lupin stayed at Grimmauld Place. Of course, the Grangers and the Dursleys were still there, but they stayed mostly in their rooms, the Dursleys out of fear, the Grangers, because they didn't want to be cumbersome.

While Harry went on planning with Lupin the defence classes -which had been postponed until Dumbledore decided if and where to they were going to move headquarters-, Ron and Hermione helped Sirius to clean the house. The twins, against their parents' wishes, went back to Weasleys Wizarding Wheezes, because they didn't want their blooming business to fall into nothingness. And Ginny mostly followed her mother around and helped her in the kitchen or in the house.

To everybody's surprise, in the evening Arthur and Molly Weasley received the following letter from Sabella Santos, the Head at St. Mungo's:

__

Mr. and Mrs. Weasley,

I'm writing to you, in the first place, to thank you for the help your family offered us in dealing with the aftermath of the Death Eaters' attacks that devastated the wizarding community yesterday. George, Ron and Ginny worked all very hard and professionally, and you have all the reason in the world to feel proud of them all.

As you may suppose, I'm sending similar letters to the parents of all the volunteers, but in your case, I have a special request to make which, let me make it very explicit, you are in no way obliged to comply with.

Once the worst was over and St. Mungo's staff was able to cope with the remaining injured people, other healers and myself took the time to check the healing charms cast by the volunteers, because we are very much aware that most of them are still underage and we thought some of their spells might not be completely right. I must say that we were astounded to find that most of the spells were not only correctly cast, but also very well chosen. I was personally impressed by your daughter's work. She seems to have a special intuition to know which healing charm is best for every injury, and when we talked to the patients she had been treating, they had only good words for her. It seems Ginny not only knows how to heal, but she also knows how to address the injured while she works. Let me tell you that putting an injured person's mind at rest is as important as healing the wound itself in most cases.

You must be wondering why am I telling you all this, so I'll go straight to the point. Although St. Mungo's staff is able to cope with the work we have at present, we are afraid that yesterday's attacks will repeat themselves soon enough. In preparation for that possible scenario -which we heartily hope will never be real-, we have decided to train some of the volunteers who worked for us yesterday, so that they can be even more helpful in the future. Ginny, of course, was immediately top in our list of possible trainees.

As we know this young people would probably rather enjoy their holidays with their families, we have thought we should offer them something more than the simply possibility of learning, so we finally came up with the idea that they could work for us eight hours a day, and we'd pay them accordingly.

If Ginny should be interested in joining us during the summer and you don't oppose her decision, please, tell her to be here tomorrow morning at 9 a.m. I'll meet with all the future trainees in my office and we will talk then about the conditions of the training. She should bring this letter and show it to the welcomewitch, who will tell her which plant she has to go to.

Hoping you approve my proposal and we see Ginny tomorrow, I thank you once more and wish you a healthy and safe summer.

Yours sincerely,

Sabella Santos,

Head of St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries, Member of the International Confederation of Wizards.

Arthur and Molly had obviously been glad that Ginny would have the chance to train herself as a healer. Mrs. Weasley had some misgivings because she was worried that St. Mungo's could be attacked too, but Ginny managed to convince her. She always did in the end. It was one of the advantages of being the youngest child of seven, and also the only girl.

The young witch was very happy herself, not only because she had always wanted to become a healer and this summer she would have an excellent opportunity to really try it and see if that's what she wanted to be for life, but also because it meant she would earn some money, and thus could buy herself some nice clothes and things her parents couldn't very well afford.

When her mother gave her Mrs. Santos' letter so that she could read it, Ginny was so happy that she run upstairs to tell Ron, Hermione and Harry, who were currently chatting over their OWLs in the boys' room. She regretted it immediately, though, because only Harry seemed to be genuinely happy for her. The boy looked a little bit taken aback too when Ron and Hermione didn't jump from the bed to congratulate Ginny, and only smiled at her half-heartedly. The girl left the room, a little bit disheartened, and went to the Blacks' library in search of some books on healing charms. She wanted to borrow them from Sirius and take them to St. Mungo's. Her idea was that, if Mrs. Santos approved of the books, she would study them in the evenings to reinforce what she learned during the day.

"What?" Harry asked Ron and Hermione when Ginny left the room. "Aren't you happy for Ginny?" The boy was really surprised and couldn't understand their friends' reaction.

"Of course we are, Harry!" Hermione assured him, but Harry knew her too well and could see that something was bothering her.

"Sure I'm happy!" Ron said.

"So..." Harry wasn't going to let the subject drop so easily.

"Well..." Ron turned a little bit red, "it's just that I'm the only one who still doesn't bring money home. I don't know, I guess I'm just being silly, but I find it strange that Ginny should have a job and earn her own money before _I_ do. I mean, I'm a year older, aren't I? Fred and George are making lots of money too, and Bill, Percy and Charlie all have their jobs. Now I feel like the little kid at home, still needing to ask my parents for money to buy every single thing. I don't know, it feels weird."

Harry sighed. He thought Ron was being a little bit selfish, but he hadn't siblings, so he didn't know how it felt and couldn't criticise his friend's attitude. He still thought that Ron had been wrong in not feeling happy for her sister. It was obvious this training thing meant a lot to Ginny. Harry then turned to Hermione: "What about you? You didn't look very happy either."

"Oh, I am, Harry," Hermione insisted. "I guess I was just surprised, you know. I mean, Ginny is so young, she hasn't even passed her OWLs yet... but I know she is very good, best of her year in fact, so I guess it's all right..." She then turned her attention back to the parchment she had been perusing when Ginny had interrupted them.

Harry didn't press the matter further. Hermione hadn't said it, but Harry had understood it very clearly: Hermione was jealous of Ginny. She had been at St. Mungo's too, and being a year older, she probably thought Mrs. Santos should have asked her too to join the training sessions at St. Mungo's. Being at headquarters was fine, but cleaning the house was really boring, and they had done it the previous summer, so it wasn't so exciting any more. Still, Harry thought it was just fair that Ginny should have her chance to be 'above' them for once. To say the truth, they had always treated her like their inferior. Being younger, she was never informed of the things they knew and they had often left her out of important things, for instance, when they had found out that Sirius was innocent of the crimes he was accused of. He'd have to remember to ask Ginny about her training the very next day, because he was sure Ron and Hermione would probably ignore her.

So the next day, Mr. Weasley dropped Ginny at St. Mungo's on his way to the Ministry. She didn't need to ask where to go, though, because she immediately saw some familiar faces waiting in the reception area. She approached them.

"Hi!" She said cheerfully.

Two people stopped talking and turned to look at her.

"Oh, hi!" Cho looked almost ecstatic to see Ginny there.

"Ginny, hi!" Neville looked very happy too.

"You are here for the training I guess?" The redhead asked. Both of them nodded. "I was so excited when my mum gave me the letter!" She shrieked, happy to share her news with somebody who looked really happy for her.

"Me too!" Neville exclaimed. "To be honest, I've always wanted to be a healer, you know, because of my parents..." His voice trembled a little, but he still looked cheerful. "I want to be close to them as much as I can, and maybe in the future someone will find a cure, you know."

Cho and Ginny smiled at him reassuringly.

"Of course they will," Cho said, "with Voldemort back, I'm sure the Ministry will foster once more the research of the Unforgivables. They are bound to find something sooner or later."

Neville looked hopeful, and then laughed a bit. "You know, I was really surprised when my grandma told me she had received Mrs. Santos' letter. I mean, I'm not really good at magic, I'm almost a squib. My grandma thought there had been a mistake and came with me this morning to clarify things, but the welcomewitch told her I was on the list, so she went back home."

Ginny turned very serious at this. "Neville, I think we have talked this over before, you just need someone to trust in you, that's all. When Professor Lupin was at Hogwarts, your marks went up in every subject, not just his, because you felt you could do things and someone believed in you, and that's all you really need. You are a great wizard, Neville. Look at what you did when we went to the Ministry!"

"Oh, you'll have to give me the details of that," Cho said. "I still want to know what happened exactly."

"Maybe during meals..." Neville said, but he looked as if his mind was elsewhere. "Still..." he said, going back to the old subject, "I wonder why Mrs. Santos would choose _me_. I mean, I only took the patients from one place to another. In your case, I can understand it, because you were both actually _healing_ people, but I didn't really have the chance to show if I could do it or not."

Ginny and Cho were thinking Neville had a point in that when a voice took them all out of their musings. "That would be, Mr. Longbottom, because a good healer doesn't only need to be a good wizard and know his charms. Charms can be learned, but the charisma to make people trust in you, relax or even stop complaining for a while... well, that's something you have or you haven't, and it can't be learned. You obviously have something people like. You look kind and reliable, and that's exactly what injured and ill people need: someone they can trust in. When I visited the patients who had been treated by the volunteers, I found out that many mentioned you as well. They said you had made them feel a little bit less nervous while they waited to be healed, and they remembered you afterwards. That's why I wanted you to come today, Mr. Longbottom." Sabella Santos gave them all a moment to reflect on her words, and then turned to more immediate matters: "And now that Miss Bones here has joined us, maybe our little meeting can begin. Please, follow me."

Ginny, Cho and Neville smiled at Susan Bones, who had come with Mrs. Santos, and then they all went to the woman's office in the last floor of the building. Three of the office walls were covered with different kind of posters and pictures depicting lists of healing herbs, recipes of potions and some schemes of the magical energy centres in the human body, but the fourth wall was really amazing. It was made of crystal, it was divided in different sections, and reflected on each of them you could see what was going on in each and every floor of the hospital. 

"I like to keep an eye on everything," Mrs. Santos said with a wink. "Please, take a sit."

The woman proceeded then to hand a parchment to each of them. "I've taken the liberty to ask my assistant to write down the training contract. I'll give you time to read it carefully, and you can take it home and show it to your parents before signing it, of course, but first I'll summarise for you the main points." They all nodded, so she went on. "The staff here at St. Mungo's, myself included, were very happy with your work a couple of days ago, for different reasons. As you all seem to have different ages and thus, a different knowledge of magic, I've decided you will be trained by a healer each instead of being all together all of the time. In this way, the healer you are assigned to will be able to insist in the points you have more difficulty with and won't need to repeat other things you might already know. For instance, Miss Weasley and Miss Chang here showed a vast knowledge of healing charms, while Miss Bones and Mr. Longbottom were both a great help in reassuring people. Both skills are needed in our profession, and we'll try to further your knowledge and practice of both of them. Now..." She paused for a moment while searching for a parchment on her table, which she then kept on her hands while she went on talking. "As you'll be trained by a healer each, we thought it would be better if you just adjusted yourselves to the working times of the healer you'll be with. That means sometimes you'll work from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., but sometimes you'll have to work from 5 p.m. to 1 a.m. and other days you'll have to be here from 1 a.m. to 9 a.m. You'll have two free days a week, but it doesn't mean it will be on a weekend, it might be during the week too. And you'll have to be available in case of emergency. Understood so far?"

They all nodded once more, so Mrs. Santos went on with her explanation: "Ok, point two then. You'll be with the healer you are assigned to all of the time. This means, of course, that you'll probably have to witness very unpleasant things, see the effect of many courses, probably see some blood, and maybe even see someone die." She looked intently at them all. It was obvious they looked a little bit paler, but otherwise they looked still determined to take this chance. "Point three... You'll eat here the meals due during the working hours you are at the hospital. If you work overnight, you'll have a break too and you are obliged to eat something, because it will help you stand on your feet. It might feel a little bit strange at the beginning to have a steak at 3 a.m., but you cannot work 8 hours without eating something solid in between. Your stomach will get used to it, so don't worry much about that. And fourth... As you're gonna obviously benefit from the training, you won't be paid a whole salary, but still will get some money at the end of every month, since you'll be working for us too. If you look at the contract now, you'll see the amount printed under number 7. As you see, it's only one hundred galleons, which is exactly half of what a healer without much experience usually earns. Of course, wages increase proportionally to the experience and skill of the healer".

Ginny almost fainted. One hundred galleons? As far as she knew that was almost as much as his father earned, and he was Head of Department! She looked at her companions for a moment, to see how they took this incredible news. Susan Bones and Neville didn't even blink twice, it was obvious money was not an item at their homes. Cho looked quite astonished for a moment, but then turned her attention back to Mrs. Santos' words.

"Now, if you don't mind, I'd like to make you some questions, and please, I would like a sincere answer, ok?" She didn't wait for their reply, but started straight away:

"How old are you?"

"Sixteen," Susan replied.

"Fourteen," Ginny said.

"Sixteen," Cho answered.

"Fifteen," Neville said.

"Ok." Mrs. Santos was writing down everything they said. "Hogwarts' house and year?"

"Hufflepuff, I'm gonna start my sixth year," Susan said.

"Gryffindor, I'm gonna start my fifth year," Ginny told her.

"Ravenclaw, I'm gonna start my seventh year," Cho said.

"Gryffindor, I'm gonna start my sixth year," Neville replied.

"Best and worst subject at school?"

"My best subject is Herbology and my worst one is Astronomy," Susan said.

"My best is Charms and my worst is History of Magic," Ginny said.

"My best is Transfiguration and my worst is Muggle Studies," Cho said.

"My best is Herbology and my worst is Potions," Neville said with a grimace.

"Potions?" Mrs. Santos asked. Neville nodded. "You'll need to work a lot on that subject then, dear, because potions are very important in our profession." Mrs. Santos said, and wrote something more next to Neville's name. The boy swallowed, a little bit worried at this.

"Finally, what would you like to be when you finish school?"

"A journalist," Susan Bones said.

"A healer," Ginny said without hesitation.

Cho answered next: "Well, I'd like to play Quidditch professionally, but I'm aware I could only be that while I'm young, so I had thought of becoming a healer afterwards, or maybe a teacher."

"Do you know that professional Quidditch teams have their own healers, Miss Chang?" Mrs. Santos asked her.

"Well, yeah, I've heard of them, but I guess they travel a lot around, and I'm not sure if I want to be so close to a Quidditch pitch if I'm not playing myself..." Cho confessed.

Mrs. Santos laughed. "Very well, I understand your point of view. What about you, Mr. Longbottom?"

"I had always wanted to become a healer, Madam, but I'm not sure I got the needed marks in my OWLs," Neville answered with a sad smile.

"I see..." Mrs. Santos said thoughtfully while chewing her quill. "Well, you never know with the OWLs, sometimes you get better marks than you expected." She said. "Now my dears, are you still interested in taking part of this training during the summer? Take into account that you won't have holidays before school starts again." Four heads nodded firmly, and Mrs. Santos smiled happily. "Very well, then," she said, and then turned to her right and sounded a small bell 4 times. Susan, Ginny, Cho and Neville looked at each other, wondering what was Mrs. Santos doing. They didn't have time to ask though, because after a moment the door to her office opened and four people entered the room.

"Thanks for coming," Mrs. Santos said. "I've had a most delightful conversation with our new trainees and I wanted to introduce you to them now. If you'd please come over here..."

The four people walked over to her and stood behind her chair.

"I'm sure you had the chance to meet some of my colleagues the other day, but just in case, let me introduce them to you. They are gonna take care of your training." Susan, Ginny, Cho and Neville moved a little bit nervously in their seats.

"First of all, we have Madam Pomfrey, whom I'm sure you all know." Hogwarts' matron smiled cheerfully at them all and they smiled back while nodding. "Madam Pomfrey will be in charge of Miss Bones, because she was very good with the kids, and Madam Pomfrey has a lot of experience in that area too, so I thought you could work very well together." Susan smiled heartily at Madam Pomfrey, she had always liked the woman.

"Then we have Ms. Guillaume, Head of the Magical Bugs Floor." The tall black woman who had attended Bill in St. Mungo's bowed at them. "Miss Weasley, you'll be working with her." Ginny was beyond herself with joy. She was going to work alongside the woman who had given Bill a chance to live, and ashanrii, nonetheless! Ms. Guillaume looked a little bit surprised herself though, but she didn't complain.

"To my left we have Ms. Zaidre, Head of the Creature-Induced Injuries Floor." A beautiful dark-skinned girl smiled at them. "She'll be in charge of Miss Chang." Cho looked the woman in the eye and smiled again.

"And finally, we have someone you all must probably know by now too, Mr. Ming." Benjamin Ming smiled at them all and said:

"I don't think I met Miss Bones the other day."

"No, I don't think so," Susan confirmed.

"Oh, ok, then, so now you know each other too," Mrs. Santos said pleasantly, and then confirmed everybody's guess: "Mr. Ming will train Mr. Longbottom." Benjamin smiled encouragingly at Neville, although he looked a little bit displeased with something, and he crossed a look with Ms. Guillaume.

Mrs. Santos seemed to notice, because she said: "I had agreed with my colleagues a different assignation before talking to you. Basically, Mr. Ming was supposed to be training Miss Weasley and Ms. Guillaume was supposed to be in charge of Mr. Longbottom, but during our conversation Mr. Longbottom here happened to mention that he has some trouble with potions, and as you are the best at that Benjamin, I changed the assignation without consulting you. I hope you don't mind." She added, looking at Benjamin and Ms. Guillaume. They shook their heads and assured her they would be delighted to train any of the four young people, as they had all done an excellent job a couple of days ago, so the matter was closed. It was definitely so for Ms. Guillaume, but it was obvious Benjamin wasn't very happy with the change, and Neville wondered if he remembered him from his time at Hogwarts. Being a Slytherin, Benjamin was probably familiar with Neville's disastrous work in potions, as it was a subject of frequent jokes between the Slytherins.

"Well, and now the assignation is made and you have your contract, maybe you'd like to have a drink with your respective mentors and talk about timetables, books and any other thing you'd like to discuss. Tomorrow I expect you to bring me the contract signed by yourselves and your parents or guardians, and then you'll start the real training." After those final words, Mrs. Santos stood to shake Susan's, Ginny's, Cho's and Neville's hand in turn. They all thanked her for her interest in them and left the office, followed by the four healers.

Once in the refectory of the hospital, they ordered some drinks and sat in pairs at different tables to discuss the classes. Ms. Guillaume seemed to be very nice, although very strict. She gave Ginny her timetable and a list of books she should read as reference. They talked about them for a while, and then Ginny took off the books she had borrowed from Sirius and asked Ms. Guillaume if they were reliable sources too. The woman leafed through them, but finally said:

"I'm afraid I don't know the authors. I've been working in St. Mungo's for the last twenty years, but I still live in France, where I was born, and I must admit I'm more familiar with the articles and books published in my native country than here. Poppy is too isolated in Hogwarts and Zaira Zaidre is a foreigner too, but Benjamin might know them, you can ask him afterwards." The woman said, and gave the books back to Ginny. "By the way, you don't need to buy the books on my list, you should be able to find them in the hospital's library. You can read them while I work on reports and the like. We won't be working with patients all of the time. You can take them home with you too if you want, of course, but remember you need to rest a bit and enjoy yourself at home too, ok?"

Ginny nodded. "Thanks again, Ms. Guillaume," she said.

"Oh, please, call me Grace, Ms. Guillaume makes me feel old," the woman said, and winked at her before going back to her work.

As Neville seemed to have finished too, Ginny went over and greeted Benjamin once more. "Hi! Thanks again for your help with my brothers the other day," the girl said.

"Any time," Benjamin smiled back. "I hope they are completely recovered by now."

"Oh, yes, they are. They must be back at work right now." Ginny said, and then showed him the books she was carrying. "I wanted to ask you if you happen to know these books. I borrowed them from a friend, but I don't know if the authors are reliable or not."

Benjamin took the books from her and examined them for a while. "These two are ok, but very basic, I'm sure you'd find them boring. This one is absolutely rubbish, you can tell your friend to throw it away. This one is quite interesting, but maybe it would be too difficult for you right now. Wait a couple of weeks, and then you can give it a try. If you have any questions about the book or any other thing, you can ask me anytime, although I'm not your mentor." He said, and Ginny, as Neville, had the feeling that Benjamin wasn't too happy with the change of partners, although she couldn't imagine why.

Susan, Cho, Ginny and Neville left together and wished good luck to each other before going their separate ways. Susan would start with the evening shift the next day, and Neville had the night shift with Benjamin, but Cho and Ginny would be working both during the day, so they'd probably see each other on the corridors of St. Mungo's.

***

Harry had almost jumped from joy when Remus had told him he wanted to see what he and Sirius could do. They were going to duel with the werewolf.

Now Sirius, Harry and Remus were in the improvised classroom, getting used to walking on the soft floor. Remus moved freely around the room, the wolf in him was helping him keep his balance, but Sirius and Harry had ended up on their knees more times than they cared to count.

"Come on, gentlemen," Remus said amused, "how are you gonna stand my spells if you fall on your own."

"It's a diversionary tactic," Sirius grunted, standing once more.

Lupin waved his wand and stone blocks appeared in front of Harry and Sirius. They looked very solid and reached to Harry's chest. On closer inspection, though, they turned out to be very soft too.

"All right," Remus said, "you can use those to protect yourselves from my attacks."

"What about you?" Sirius inquired.

"I won't use any cover just yet," Remus said.

Harry's eyes rounded with surprise, but Sirius just fell once more to the floor, this time laughing. When he finally managed to control his mirth, he turned to Remus. "A little bit overconfident, aren't we?"

Remus just shrugged. "Well, if you get me, I might change my mind. Let's start, shall we?"

Harry stood behind his 'stone' and readied his wand. "Who begins?" He asked.

"You can both attack me first, then I'll retaliate, ok?" Remus suggested.

Sirius started laughing again. He wiped some tears of laughter from his eyes and then winked at Harry. "Ok, Mister Moony, as you wish, but I'm afraid this class is going to be very short, because the teacher is going to be soon panting on the floor."

"Don't worry about that, Sirius, we have almost two months anyway. And it's Professor Lupin, if you don't mind."

Sirius laughed some more. "Sure, Professor," he said with an exaggerated bow.

Harry couldn't help but have the feeling that the one showing overconfidence was his godfather. He had never seen Professor Lupin boasting of his skills, and he suspected it wouldn't be so easy to hit the werewolf.

"Right, on the count of three," Sirius said. "One... two... THREE!"

Harry threw a Stunning spell at Lupin while Sirius attacked him with a Jelly-Legs spell. Too bad for them, since Lupin deflected their attack with a mirroring spell. Harry dived in time, but Sirius fell to the soft floor with his legs looking like very large and strange slugs.

"Finite Incantatem!" Lupin said. "Very well, Harry, but next time I want you to attack me again immediately, ok? If you just dive and wait, when you try to get out I'll be ready to hit you. Forget we are on the same side for a while, just picture me as a Death Eater trying to kill you and fight as you would in a real situation, ok?" Harry nodded. Lupin turned then to Sirius, who was standing again, looking a little bit disgruntled. "Speculum," he explained, "the mirroring spell. It sends back the curses thrown at you by your enemies. It allows you to deflect up to ten curses at once, varying depending on the magical power of the attackers, and allows you to protect yourself and hit back at the same time. Lily's favourite." Harry swallowed for a moment. Lupin looked back at him. "We are not sure, but we suspect that's the one she used to protect you from Voldemort, it would explain why his curse backfired when he tried to kill you fifteen years ago." Harry nodded and looked at the floor. He would be sure to never forget that spell.

"Ok," Lupin said, "once more."

Sirius started counting again: "One.. two... THREE!"

This time, Harry repeated his Stunning spell but when he dived behind his 'stone' he was already thinking in the next spell. Sirius had changed to a Stunning spell too this time. It would be less disturbing if Remus hit him back again. This time, though, Lupin changed the tactic. He just kneeled very quickly to avoid both spells and then tried to stun Sirius. His friend was on his guard this time, and dived in time. Harry came out of his hiding place to attack Lupin while he was concentrated on Sirius, but the werewolf was faster and jumped aside. Before Harry could hide again, he had been hit. Sirius came out and shouted "Stupefy!" Remus threw himself to the floor and rolled. Sirius tried to get him, but Remus shielded himself from his spells and attacked back. Sirius was able to avoid being hit four or five times more, but finally joined Harry on the floor.

"Finite Incantatem!" Lupin said once more, but he sounded a little bit more tired this time. "Better, both of you," he said. "You might want to co-ordinate your attack a bit. You are both fighting against the same enemy. Try to help each other or to take advantage of the other's attack. One more time, come on."

Sirius and Harry stood once more. They looked at each other and then at Lupin. At Sirius' shout of 'three!', Sirius hit Remus with the Desaungeo curse and his teeth started to grow at an alarming rate, but he didn't seem to care and was ready to jump aside and avoid Harry's Stunning spell in time. Before any of them could hit him with a second spell, Remus said "Expelliarmus!" with great difficulty, and his opponents' wands flew to his outstretched hand. He then pointed his own wand at his mouth and said, "Finite Incantatem!" His teeth had already reached his chin by then, and Sirius and Harry couldn't hide a small chuckle, although they had lost once more.

"That I've been hit by a curse doesn't mean I'm gonna surrender, so don't relax," Remus warned them. "You thought you got me, but I was still standing and able to use my wand, although I must admit Sirius' spell broke my concentration for a moment. Also, that I have your wands doesn't mean that you have to give up. Of course it's better if you have your wand, but Muggles don't need one to defend themselves, look at Mr. Dursley or Mrs. Granger, for instance, they used a book and a frying pan, and it worked. Magic is your best weapon, but not the only one. Harry, remember you can always use stones, branches, books... anything you can reach, ok? It won't kill your attacker, but it will probably surprise him and give you some time to hide or escape. Carrying your father's Invisibility Cloak with you at all times wouldn't be a bad idea either. And Sirius, what about Padfoot? You could have attacked me in your dog form and you would have probably won. Remember you have an extra power. Don't think in Padfoot only when you want to have fun, think in him all of the time and try to take advantage of his skills. If you ever loose your wand, run at your attacker or run away from him, whichever you think more wise at the time." Harry and Sirius made a mental note of what Lupin told them.

They went on trying to get him some more times, but without success. By the end of the class, which had lasted only an hour, Harry and Sirius were panting and were both nursing small injuries. Although the floor was soft, they had hit each other's head once when diving to avoid Remus' spells, and Harry's glasses had made a small cut on his left cheek when he fell once face down when Remus' Stunning spell hit him. Lupin looked a little bit tired, but certainly not as much as the other two.

"Not bad," he said, "we'll meet again tomorrow morning at 11 a.m. and then in the evening. We'll go on training two hours a day until we move to another place and Dumbledore's Army can join us."

Sirius and Harry nodded tiredly, but grinned a bit too. Their first training session had been very exciting, and they were looking forward to repeating the experience. Of course, they were hoping too they'd finally defeat Remus.

*****

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Thanks for the reviews!

Thanks all for reading and reviewing!

Well, I hope you enjoyed Professor Lupin's class, Harry and Sirius certainly did. ;-) What do you think of Ron and Hermione's reaction to Ginny's good news?

In the following chapter... the fuocciris come to Grimmauld Place.

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Kady Rilla Wholi: Hi! I missed your review last chapter, I'm glad you are back! Well, Ginny and Neville are certainly gonna spend some time together while at St. Mungo's, let's see...

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hermionegreen: Thank you! Each chapter is more difficult than the last. I find myself wanting to tell things I don't know the words for, and that's a little bit irritating, to say the least, but oh, well, I'm still having fun, and this is certainly helping me practice my English. I don't think Dumbledore will take the risk of letting Vernon Dursley meet the fuocciris... :D

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goddesgaia: Thanks! I hope you enjoyed this chapter too.

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SiriusBlack44: That, coming from none other than Sirius Black himself, is indeed a high compliment. ;-)

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DavidCamp: Thank you! :-)

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jtyw: Thanks! Here it is. Next chapter should be up soon too. ;-)


	14. The Fuocciris

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Disclaimer: The characters that look familiar to you belong to J. K. Rowling. The ones you cannot find in any of her books are mine. I don't intend to make any money out of this. I'm just having some fun.

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The Fuocciris

"Nooooooo!"

Harry awoke swimming in sweat. He wasn't sure if he had cried out loud or not, but Ron's sleeping form told him he had probably only screamed in his dream. The nightmares had been less frequent since Sirius had returned and he felt secure at Headquarters, but when they came, they were always very real. He touched his forehead. He was burning, and his scar hurt a bit. The bluish light coming in through the window told him it was almost daybreak, and he was sure sleep wouldn't come back again that night anyway, so he got out of bed carefully so as to not awake Ron and went to the kitchen in search of some cool water. From the stairs, he could see the light in the kitchen was on. 

"Ginny?" Harry greeted the girl, surprised at finding her there so early in the morning. The redhead choked on a piece of toast she had been eating.

"Harry! Don't scare me like that!"

Harry laughed a bit. "Who were you expecting me to be? Voldemort?"

Ginny coughed a bit more, still trying to swallow the piece of toast. "Very funny," she commented dryly. "What are you doing up so early?"

Harry shrugged. "Couldn't sleep."

Ginny looked at his tired and sweaty face. "Nightmares again?"

"Yeah," Harry said with a grimace.

"Here," Ginny said, patting the chair next to her, "sit down and have something to eat, it always cheers me up." She proceeded to put some toasts, honey butter and roses jam in a dish for him, and then poured him some hot chocolate.

Harry was going to reject her offer, but then he realised he _was_ hungry, so he joined her. "Are you leaving already?" He asked her while buttering a piece of toast.

Ginny's eyebrows shot up. "No, please! I just came a few minutes ago! Whatever Grace says, my stomach is never going to get used to eating lunch at 3 a.m. I just had some coffee and a piece of strawberry cake at St. Mungo's, and now I'm starving!"

Harry laughed at the expression in her face, but Ginny just ignored him and went on munching her breakfast. Or was it lunch? Or dinner? Well... whatever, food.

"I'm glad I found you here, we haven't seen much of you lately," Harry said. It was true. Since Ginny had started her training at St. Mungo's, she was out of Black Manor most of the time, and when she came back she went straight to bed or to the library. Harry had the suspicion she was trying to avoid them because of Ron's and Hermione's jealous reaction.

"I know," she said, and looked wistfully around. "I guess you must be having fun, all together... But I'm really happy about the training, you know? Being a healer is even better than I had always thought. We've had some rough cases this week, mind you, but still, healing people is so... I don't know, rewarding. I really like it, Harry, and I want to make the most of this chance. Susan told me that Madam Pomfrey has let slip that she might let us help her at Hogwarts too during the school year, you know. I guess she wants to be ready in case the school is attacked."

"Do you think Hogwarts could be attacked?" Harry had always thought the old castle was the safest place in the world.

Ginny thought for a moment while she swallowed some chocolate. "Not really," she finally said. "But better be prepared. Anyway, if we are given the chance, I'm surely interested, not only because of what I could learn, but also because of the money. Although I'm not sure they will pay us while we are at Hogwarts." She took the buttered toast from Harry's hand and bit it hungrily. Harry just shook his head and smiled at Ginny's cheek. She had definitely changed a lot in the last year or so. He went back to the subject at hand, though:

"Aren't you worried about the time you will loose? You'll have your OWLs next year." Harry said, while buttering another toast.

"On the contrary. My practices will help me prepare for my OWLs. I feel more confident now with my spell work and my potions, and I've had to learn so many herbs and plants' names that I doubt there can be many more in the world."

Harry smiled. At least someone optimistic. That's all he really needed. The mood had been a bit tense at Headquarters lately, as the visit of the fuocciris was getting closer.

"Today is the big day," Harry said. Ginny looked at him seemingly confuse. "The fuocciris come today, had you forgotten?"

"Oh, no!" Ginny exclaimed. "I had completely forgotten! And I'm so tired! Do you think the fuocciris will be offended if I fall asleep when bowing?"

"Hmmm, only if you fall on one of them, I guess," Harry joked. During all that week, Professor McGonagall had insisted so many times in how they had to bow, keep their eyes on the floor and not look the fuocciris in the eye -because it was a sign of disrespect for them- and how they should answer in case of being addressed by one of them, that they were too nervous to even breath in their presence. Harry had the bad feeling the meeting was going to be a disaster. He was curious to see the fuocciris, but he was also worried that he would offend them somehow and then the meeting could have disastrous results.

"How was that bow thing again?" Ginny asked annoyed. "Bow-nod-bow or nod-bow-nod?"

"Bow-nod-bow," Harry said, "but it's easier said than done. My body seems totally incapable of such a greeting. Too complicated."

Ginny laughed. "You're right. This is going to be a mess. I was very excited about the fuocciris' visit at first, but now I'd rather stay hidden in my room and just sleep through the meeting."

"You've read my mind," Harry agreed. "Do you think we could stay upstairs without anybody noticing?"

Ginny smiled lopsidedly. "Well, I might stand a chance, you know. With so much red hair in the house, they wouldn't probably miss me. But you, Harry... you and that scar of yours..."

Harry sighed. "I guess you're right. I'm probably gonna be stared at for as long as this meeting lasts."

They remained silent for a moment, and then Ginny finally said, after stifling a huge yawn: "Well, Harry, it's been wonderful to talk to you again, but I should really go to bed now or I will really fall asleep in the middle of the fuocciris' visit."

She stood and started clearing the table. Harry rapidly stood too and held her arm. "Oh, come on, I'll do it, you are too tired, and I have nothing better to do until someone else wakes up."

"Are you sure?" Ginny asked.

"Completely," Harry said.

"Thanks, Harry, you are a dear," the girl said, and then kissed his cheek briefly before gathering her books and heading upstairs.

"Ginny!" Harry called her. "Just a thing. I wanted to ask you if you are going to join Lupin's Defence classes. You are in our list, since you were part of Dumbledore's Army, but as you're busy with your training at St. Mungo's..."

"Oh, that's ok," Ginny said, "I wouldn't miss Professor Lupin's classes for anything in the world."

"But won't you be too tired?" Harry asked.

"Better tired than dead, Harry," Ginny said with a half-smile. The attack on the Burrow was still fresh in her mind.

"Ok, then, I'll tell him," Harry promised.

"Thanks! Good night!" She said.

"Good night!" Harry laughed.

He stayed there clearing the table and doing the dishes muggle-style. He didn't want to abuse using his wand, and he used it pretty often during Lupin's training sessions. While he worked, he thought in Ginny and how much she had changed now that she no longer fancied him. He was glad to be her friend.

***

That day turned out to be the craziest and funniest Harry had ever experienced. The chaos had ensued when Professor McGonagall, in preparation for the fuocciris' visit that evening, had decided that, to practice their greetings and correct reactions, that day they would all talk to each other as if they were ashanriis, so everybody kept on bowing and nodding ridiculously all over the house. This fact only confirmed the Dursleys' suspicions that wizards and witches were nothing more than a bunch of nuts, and even the Grangers had to agree to some extent, although they laughed more at everybody's behaviour and criticised it less. After lunch, Professor McGonagall sent them all to their rooms to put on their best robes.

Contradictorily enough, the sourly Potions Professor wouldn't be there for the meeting, which Ron found highly suspicious, since he was one of the few who seemed to have met ashanriis before and apparently knew how to behave in their presence.

"He cannot be there, Ron," Ginny said absently while painting her fingernails, "the ashanriis can see Voldemort's mark on the Death Eaters."

"WHAT?" Harry, Ron and Hermione asked in unison.

Their shout made Ginny jump and she ended up painting almost all of her finger, and not just the nail.

"Look what you have done!" She complained pouting, before taking her wand and cleaning her finger.

"Are you sure about that?" Hermione asked.

"About what?" Ginny asked, looking around at their disgruntled faces.

"About the ashanriis being able to see the Dark Mark on the Death Eaters' arms!" Harry exclaimed.

"Yes, I'm sure," Ginny answered a bit offended. "Grace told me, she is a dansarine, so she should know."

"Grace?" Ron asked.

"Ron, do you ever listen to what I say?" Ginny asked annoyed. "Grace is Ms. Guillaume's first name. She is the healer in charge of my training at St. Mungo's. Do you remember I'm following a training at St. Mungo's at all or should I explain it again?"

Ron didn't look too pleased at her little sisters' tone, but Hermione didn't give him the chance to protest.

"How can they see it, did she tell you?" She asked.

Ginny thought for a moment. "Well, I think they can feel dark magic or something like that. As the Dark Mark is cast with dark magic, they can feel it, or more like sense it, if you want."

They all pondered this for a moment, and then Ginny added as an afterthought. "Grace told me dansarines can sense a werewolf's presence too, but the other ashanriis can't, so Professor Lupin should have no problem with the fuocciris."

"They can sense werewolves?" Ron asked.

"Yes." Ginny said, and then explained: "A couple of days ago an old wizard who had been bitten by a werewolf was brought to St. Mungo's by his relatives. Grace knew he was there before even seeing him, and she could sense him moving around his hospital room, and we weren't even in the same floor. She was very nervous all of the time. She told me she doesn't like werewolves much."

"Wow," Ron said, "those skills could come in handy, don't you think?"

Harry and Hermione had to agree with him. Now they started to realise for the first time how important this visit really was. If the fuocciris joined their side, they would be able to know who was a Death Eater and who wasn't. The Death Eaters' masks would be useless. The three of them started practising their bows and nods frantically, but Ginny just shook her head and went back to paint her nails.

At 5 p.m., all the people who wanted to be there to meet the fuocciris had congregated in the room where Bill had been healed some days ago. Some of them looked nervous, others eager. The room had been expanded with magic and now was a large rectangular piece with golden candelabra hanging from the high ceiling. Two large rows of comfortable chairs extended along the longer walls, facing each other. In between, low tables were covered in mountains and mountains of sweets and pastries. On top of some of them there were coffee and tea pots, milk, sugar, lemon, honey, cinnamon and other spices. They were supposed to wait standing in front of their respective chairs in the row to the right, and when the ashanriis had sat themselves in the chairs in front of them, they would take a seat too.

Professor McGonagall, Mrs. Weasley and Tonks were supposed to serve the drinks and offer the pastries to the ashanriis, and then Dumbledore would do the talking.

"Ok," Minerva McGonagall said. "You'll notice I've left a little note on every chair to indicate where everyone is going to be seated, and please, no complains. After you've checked where you are going to be seated, we'll practice the greetings for the last time and review Professor Snape's list of dos and don'ts before taking our places in front of the chair assigned to each of us.

There was a scramble while everybody tried to see where they were going to be seated. Then, everybody joined Professor McGonagall in the middle of the room and faced someone else to practice the welcoming bows. "Bow-nod-bow," she intoned, and they more or less managed to follow her orders. Then the old witch took off Professor Snape's list, cleared her throat and recited clearly and loudly:

Things you must DO:

1. When the ashanriis enter the house, bow and keep your head down until they are all seated.

2. While you're bowing, look at the floor or at your feet.

3. When the ashanriis are seated, keep your eyes away from their faces.

4. If an ashanrii addresses you, bow-nod-bow, look at her for a second and then turn your eyes away from her before answering her.

5. If you want to say something to an ashanrii, take one short step, look at her and nod-bow-nod, then straighten and keep your eyes away from her and tell her whatever you have to say.

6. If you ask something to an ashanrii, when she answers you, bow once to thank her.

7. Keep your eyes from them as much as possible.

8. At all times, keep your wand out of the way.

Things you must NOT DO:

1. NEVER look an ashanrii in the eye. It's a sign of challenge and they will probably be offended.

If for any reason you happen to look at an ashanrii...

2. DO NOT stare.

3. DO NOT let your mouth hang open.

4. DO NOT gape.

5. DO NOT whistle.

6. DO NOT utter a sound.

7. DO NOT kneel at her feet.

8. DO NOT go over to her.

When she finished reading, Professor McGonagall looked at them all and suddenly shouted: "BOW-NOD-BOW!"

Nobody was expecting the order, so some didn't follow the right sequence, some started too late, and some didn't even react. The result was absolutely disastrous. Most people had hit their partner's head. Some of them had cried in shock and others were shouting now, angry at Minerva's idea or because they had hurt themselves.

Dumbledore watched amused from his chair in the centre of the right row while Professor McGonagall tried to calm the infuriated people, who were checking themselves or their partners for injuries. Tonks healed Lupin's nose, which she had broken accidentally while straightening herself, and Hermione was checking if Ron had still all of his teeth. Ginny and Penelope, who had been partnered together and had followed the instructions correctly, were finding the scene highly entertaining until Percy got everybody's attention when he shouted: "The window! Look at the window!"

They all turned their heads in that direction, and saw the most fascinating thing in the world: a Chinese Fireball dragon hanging in mid-air and... laughing hysterically. They all stared at it. None of them had ever seen a dragon laughing, not even Charlie Weasley. The dragon obviously noticed the sudden silence in the room, because it stopped laughing abruptly and then flew through the window, which was closed. It didn't seem to mind, though, and crossed the glass as if it wasn't there. In fact, the glass didn't brake at all, it was as if a ghost had crossed it and not something as solid as a dragon.

The dragon landed smoothly inside the room, a little bit apart from the people gathered in the centre, and suddenly it was gone, and in its place there was a beautiful girl with thick black hair reaching to her shoulders, smiling apologetically at them. "Sorry I laughed at you," she said, "I didn't mean to, I just couldn't help it."

"Samako Sam!" Bill exclaimed. He had immediately recognised one of the girls who had saved his life a few days ago in that very same room. The girl smiled at him and then at the other people she recognised from the other day, fixing her gaze finally in Dumbledore.

"I've come to check that everything is ready and to put some extra wards on the house. Princess Yokiro will be here in a moment. Don't worry too much about the niceties. She would be satisfied when seeing that you've been trying to please her, perfection is not required. I'll go back to the escort now." She turned to the window again, but then seemed to think it better and turned once more to say in her sweet voice: "I'm really sorry I laughed, please, don't be offended."

"No offence taken," Dumbledore assured her, and the rest of the people congregated there confirmed it with their heads and hands.

Samako then transformed again in a dragon and flew out of the window, leaving the glass once more intact.

"Everybody to their chairs!" Professor McGonagall ordered, and they all hurried to take their places. They only had to wait for a moment, but to Harry and all the others it seemed an eternity. Harry took the time to look around. He was very close to the door, together with Ron, Fred, George and the other Weasley men. The women present in the room were in the centre, Dumbledore in the middle of them. And after the last woman -Professor Sprout-, there were the other men members of the Order: Moody, Mundungus, Shackebolt, Sirius and Lupin.

Finally they could see them coming. In the distance, the escort of red dragons looked no bigger than a squadron of mosquitoes, but as they grew nearer, they could discern their forms perfectly, and also what looked like a small palanquin carried by two of the dragons.

The visitors came in through the window, as Samako had done a few moments ago, and landed gracefully in the middle of the room. The dragons surrounded their Princess protecting her, and stared menacingly around. One of them suddenly turned into a woman, who gave the others the order to transform themselves and help their Princess descend her royal seat, still supported by two dragons that, in this case, seemed to be just that: real dragons. All the women were very beautiful and, to the untrained eye, very similar, because they were all wearing their hair in a similar fashion and similar clothes, the only difference being that some of their kimonos were pink and others red. Only the young Samako stood from the rest, because her hair was much shorter.

Disappointment filled the room as the Princess of the fuocciris finally alighted. It was simply unbelievable that such a short small woman could be so powerful. She was definitely smaller than Harry, although the wrinkles on her face showed that she was no child. The only magnificent thing about her was her kimono, which seemed to be made of pure gold. She gave some graceful short steps to stretch her limbs after being sitting down for so long and then looked around, surveying the strangers for the first time. They were all dutifully looking at the floor. In seeing the chairs readied for herself and her warriors, the Princess made them stand on formation at her sides and then waited patiently until the English realised she was ready for their greeting. 

Professor McGonagall cleared her throat -the signal-, and they all performed the so many times practised movement: bow-nod-bow. It wasn't perfect, but the Princess looked satisfied, so she sat gracefully. The other fuocciris took a sit on the floor instead of in the chairs, surrounding her protectively, then she clapped her hands once, and three of the fuocciris stood and started putting on the small tables even more food, basically chocolates and caramelised flower petals. The three girls went then over to the wizards and witches' row and started serving them roses tea with cream.

Harry looked around the room discretely, trying to avoid the fuocciris' gaze. A young girl was serving tea to the Weasley boys. She looked his age, maybe a little bit older. There was an older girl serving tea to the witches surrounding Dumbledore, and another young girl serving the men to their right. Harry looked at the cup the girl offered him, it seemed to be made of solid gold, and small red dragons made of brilliant stones decorated the handle and the dish' border. Everybody seemed to be drinking already, so Harry took a sip, and immediately a comforting sensation invaded his body. It was the most delicious thing Harry had ever tasted. This was bliss.

Mrs. Weasley chanced a look around too. She could see Samako clearly, three places to the right of the Princess, dressed in pink and looking around royally. She searched for her older sister, Yamiko, but she didn't seem to be there. Just then, a voice at her side asked: 'Tea?' And when she turned, she realised the woman who was serving the tea was none other than Yamiko herself. "Yes, please," Molly whispered, and Yamiko complied with a smile, and then moved on to serve tea to Professor Dumbledore.

Once everybody had some tea and sweets, Mrs. Weasley, Professor McGonagall and Tonks rose and repeated the ceremony of serving the tea and the pastries to their guests. Then the Princess finally talked.

"Thanks for your invitation, Mr. Dumbledore. I've heard stories about the legendary white wizard since I was a child, and I'm glad we've finally met."

"The pleasure is mine, Princess Yokiro, and let me express you my most heartfelt thanks for accepting my invitation, specially in these dangerous days." Dumbledore said from his chair in front of the Princess.

"Before we talk about more important matters," the Princess said, "I'd like to make a little request." Dumbledore inclined his head in acquiescence. "Not all of my warriors speak your language, so I'd rather speak in Chinese, and we can ask one of my fuocciris to translate, so that everybody understands what we are saying."

"Of course," Dumbledore conceded politely.

"Samako, please," the Princess said, and Samako Sam, the young girl who had helped save Bill's life, stepped to the middle of the room and took a seat on the floor with her legs under her. From that moment, the Princess of the fuocciris spoke only Chinese, and Dumbledore answered in English, while Samako translated their words, so that everybody in the room could understand what was being said.

Dumbledore explained what he knew of Voldemort's return, how Fudge had made things more difficult for him and his people, that there had been already many attacks, and how he feared the war was imminent.

The Princess listened to everything carefully, taking a sip of her tea now and then. When Dumbledore finished his speech and Samako her translation, she thought for a moment before answering. Then Samako translated her words into English: "Last time Lord Voldemort attacked the wizarding population, he threatened the ashanriis too, or so some elders think. The problem is that we are not sure he was the real instigator of our enemies' attacks. You know giants, werewolves and dortors are not easily controlled. I find it difficult to believe a single wizard could have controlled them all. You know the fuocciris are a military society. We are always training ourselves, just in case we are attacked, but what we cannot do, what we will not do, is attack in the first place."

"But Princess, you've been attacked already, haven't you?" Dumbledore said. "I've been told that giants have attacked some fuocciris recently."

There was an uncomfortable silence in the room. "Who told you that?" The Princess asked in a rather harsh tone.

Dumbledore looked a little bit taken aback. He hadn't expected the Princess to get angry at that. "I'm afraid," he said with difficulty, "that I cannot reveal my sources."

The Princess didn't look happy at this. Her lips became a very thin line. Harry thought she didn't look so beautiful any more. Then she turned to her right and fixed her eyes on the woman who had been serving the tea, Yamiko, now seated two places to her right, and looking intently at the floor. After a tense moment, the Princess turned to look at Dumbledore.

"Yamiko Sam's home was attacked by giants a couple of weeks ago, but sporadic attacks from the giants are something usual in our community. Sometimes they quarrel between themselves and the losers have to run from the mountains. They inevitably come to a town or another, and wreck havoc, since they are usually very angry and hungry. This time, a group of giants happened to come across Yamiko Sam's house. They had been thrown away from their caves by a new leader, and they were in a very bad mood, so they tried to destroy something, just to have some fun. Unluckily for them, Yamiko Sam is one of my best warriors, and none of them survived." The Princess paused here, and turned again to Yamiko before going on. "As this is the only attack we have had in a very long time, it's definitely _not_ representative of a general organised attack on my people. There is no reason to believe the giants were attacking on Lord Voldemort's orders."

Everybody was now looking at Yamiko, the young fuocciri who had healed Bill, but she didn't seem to care. She looked perfectly calm, and simply went on staring at the floor. Her sister Samako couldn't disguise so well her nervousness, though, and her voice trembled a bit when she had to translate the Princess' words. She had paled visibly too.

Sirius was putting things together in his head. So, if this woman had been attacked a couple of weeks ago and there hadn't been any more attacks recently, she must be the mother of the two little boys who had appeared in Sandrine's flat while he was still there. He was sorry for her, it was obvious her Princess wasn't pleased that the news of the attack had reached Dumbledore, and that was his fault. It had been him who had told the old wizard.

Finally, Dumbledore spoke again: "I happen to know for sure that the giants are willing to follow Voldemort's orders again. Some of my people witnessed how Death Eaters, Voldemort's followers, negotiated with the giants. We don't know exactly what he has promised them nor what they are supposed to do for him, but you know, Princess, last time the fuocciris were 'the prize'. The giants hate you because they've never been able to defeat you, and they hold a grudge against your people which is centuries old. If the giants join Voldemort, you can be sure that the fuocciris won't be safe."

The Princess stood before Samako could translate everything Dumbledore had said. An incredible amount of energy seemed to radiate from her. "The fuocciris do NOT fear the giants. We've always defeated them in the past and we will do it again if we have to. But the fuocciris don't kill willingly, and unless the giants attack first, and unless it's obvious that they are planning a general attack on us, we won't invade their territory."

Dumbledore cleared his throat and answered in a calm voice. "It's not my intention either to attack the giants, Princess. In fact, the people who witnessed the negotiations between the Death Eaters and the giants were there as my emissaries, trying to win the giants support or, at least, their neutrality in the war. I regret to say that we were too late. I don't expect the fuocciris to attack anybody, I just ask you to be on the alert, not to protect the Death Eaters who might try to hide in your territory and, specially, not to help Voldemort, whatever he might offer you. He is only interested in himself, and won't share anything with anybody, nor his Death Eaters, nor the giants, nor any other allies he might get on the way." Dumbledore finished his speech with a very pointed look at the Princess which she understood only too well.

"We are definitely not going to join a mad black wizard who thinks he is above everybody else if that's what you are pointing at, Albus Dumbledore," the Princess replied harshly, "but we cannot prohibit his followers nor himself entrance to our territory. That would be a very big offence, and he might see us as his enemies. We have nothing to do in wizards' business, Albus Dumbledore, you know that, and we are not gonna interfere."

Dumbledore nodded respectfully, although it was obvious he wasn't happy. "I won't press the matter, Princess," he finally said, "but if you ever reconsider your position, I'll be glad to join forces with the fuocciris."

"Of course," the Princess said haughtily, "who doesn't?" She then took her seat once more.

"May I at least ask you a small favour?" Dumbledore almost begged. It was strange for all the witches and wizards congregated there to see him so dejected.

"Do," the Princess said condescendingly.

"This house has been our Headquarters since Voldemort's return, but now it's not safe any more. If you could let us stay at a place under the fuocciris protection... it doesn't need to be very big, anything would do."

The Princess looked at her escort. Some of them moved nervously in their seats, others remained quiet, the rest, basically the older ones, shook their heads and said something in Chinese Samako didn't translate. After much deliberation, the Princess turned to Dumbledore:

"I'm sorry, but if I were to do that, then Lord Voldemort could say I was siding with you, and I have all the intention to remain neutral."

"You seem to care a lot about what he says, Princess. May I ask if he has tried to contact you yet?" Dumbledore asked, rubbing the bridge of his nose.

"I don't care at all about what Voldemort or any other wizard has to say, I just want to be fair to both sides. And not, he hasn't contacted me yet and I seriously doubt he ever will. He didn't even try in the last war. He knows that the fuocciris don't like black magic."

Dumbledore nodded. "Very well. Thanks for taking your time to visit us." After that, they all bowed many times, but none of the wizards and witches in the room seemed to feel very much respect for these aloof women who couldn't so much as spare a room for them.

Before the fuocciris left, Mrs. Weasley tried to catch Samako or Yamiko's eye, but she wasn't lucky this time. The girls left -looking not very happy themselves, that is true-, but still they didn't even turn once. Sirius couldn't catch Yamiko's eye either. Of course, she didn't even know him and there was no reason why she should look at him -'apart from being a very handsome Wizard,' Sirius thought modestly-, but he felt he owed her an apology for babbling about the giant's attack to her house, and he also wanted to ask her how were Sandrine and the others. 

***

That evening, after the meeting with the fuocciris, Dumbledore asked anybody who could to stay at Headquarters. He also ordered that, from that night on, they taked turns to guard the house at night, because after the visit of the fuocciris, it wouldn't take Voldemort long to discover them.

"This evening's events don't change many things. It's true that the fuocciris' help would have ensured our victory and a very short war, but we knew there was the possibility they would choose to remain neutral, as they seem to have done." Dumbledore explained tiredly. "Now, the only problem is that we need to move as soon as possible. Professor McGonagall, Professor Flitwick, Professor Sprout and myself will go back to Hogwarts and try to ready one of the alternative places I had thought of during the night. The fuocciris' power will have left a magical trace in Grimmauld Place, and if Voldemort notices it, which he undoubtedly will do soon enough, his Death Eaters could be here before we can move. So you'd better be ready. I want two people on guard on every floor of the house during the night. During the day, you can go on with your life as usual."

Mrs. Weasley tried very hard to control her tears and just put her arms around Ginny and Hermione. Everybody in the room looked suddenly very scared. Dumbledore's lack of energy obviously affected all of them.

After the old wizard left, they all split. Mrs. Weasley, Ginny and Hermione went to pick up the Grangers and the Dursleys and tell them how things stood. Tonks and the younger boys went to ready a big room, where they would all try to sleep together. The twins conjured up some orange sleeping bags while Tonks, Ron and Harry started putting up some extra wards around the room. While they were at it, Hermione came in followed by her father, and Vernon and Dudley Dursley. All the men carried very heavy books in their arms. Everybody in the room froze for a moment. That Mr. Granger might want to read some books about magical herbs or potions was ok, but that Vernon or Dudley Dursley would have an interest in magical books -'in any book, in fact,' Harry though- was certainly unexpected. Harry approached his uncle tentatively and looked at some of the titles the men were carrying: Wendelin the Weird's 'Workbook About The Wizarding World', 'A Thousand Ways And More to Kill a Muggle', by Trementin Tremendous, 'Painful Deaths for Mudbloods and Mugglelovers', by Florean Floripondium, and 'Ways To Purify Your Blood', by Coletus Alcoholetus. Harry's eyebrows disappeared under his fringe.

"What are you looking at?" Uncle Vernon suddenly roared. "Did you think we were just going to sit and wait until those fanatic freaks come and get us? Ah, no! They won't touch my family while there is something I can throw at them!" Harry looked at Dudley's and Mr. Granger's put faces, and then turned to Hermione.

"I tried to convince them that they should just keep a low profile, because books might not be of much help for them this time, but they just wouldn't listen," Hermione explained resignedly. "My mum and your aunt have gone downstairs with Mrs. Weasley in search of a good frying pan or a pot they can hit the Death Eaters with."

There was a very stunned silence in the room. Finally George asked: "What did mum say about it?"

"She said in any case the books and the pots could be a good shield against a curse," Hermione answered in a tone that showed she wasn't convinced in the least that would be right.

Tonks sighed. Very well then, come over here." She said to the Dursleys and Mr. Granger. "Your sleeping bags are the ones in the centre. You'll have wizards all around you, so try not to hit someone on our side, ok?"

Mr. Granger nodded, but Uncle Vernon looked offended at the girl's words. What did he care which side was the wizard on? There couldn't be good weirdos, could there?

*****

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Thanks for the reviews!

Thanks all for reading and reviewing!

Now, the meeting was a little bit disappointing, wasn't it? Oh, well, don't worry too much, maybe the fuocciris will change their mind yet. I made some attempts at humour in this chapter, I hope you smiled at least. Next chapter should be funnier, we'll see some people's reactions to the fuocciris' visit.

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hermionegreen: Very good question, which means, of course, that I cannot tell you yet. We'll see why Benjamin didn't look too happy in Chapter 17.

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ilovechocolate: I agree with you, but you must take into account Sirius and Harry are too conscious that they are cursing Lupin, while he is more used to duelling only as an exercise. You can be sure that if they had to fight against Death Eaters they wouldn't be so easily caught. I think they are too relaxed. I have to agree with you too about the characters, the problem is that all of them are going to play an important role in the story sooner or later, so I have to introduce them little by little. It's my wild imagination's fault. ;-)

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goddesgaia: Thanks! I'm glad you like it.

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Makalani Astral: You're probably right about Molly. I thought she'd probably call him Professor, because that's what her children call him at home, but I'll have to think about it again. I might go back and change it. Thanks for the hint!

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Lily Skylo: Thanks! I got your review of Chapter 12 when I had already posted Chapter 13, so I'm answering now to your last two reviews. ;-) First of all, I'm very sorry to tell you that Edvard has suffered a small delay and won't be back until Chapter 17 or 18. :-( As I try to update quite often, you shouldn't have to wait too long, though. Secondly, I'm glad you enjoyed Lupin's class, I tried to put some action into the story, but also making it funny.


	15. Man to Man

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Disclaimer: The characters that look familiar to you belong to J. K. Rowling. The ones you cannot find in any of her books are mine. I don't intend to make any money out of this. I'm just having some fun.

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Man To Man

All the people in the house had something to eat, not much, because none of them was feeling really hungry, and then the Grangers, the Dursleys, Harry, Ron and Hermione went to bed, although they couldn't sleep much. After much pleading, Ginny had finally convinced Mrs. Weasley to let her go to St. Mungo's, because she had another training session that night, but her father had insisted on accompanying her and picking her up in the morning. Percy and her mother were guarding the top floor now, Penelope and Tonks the second, and the twins were in charge of the first floor. Sirius, Lupin, Moody, Schacklebolt, Mundungus and the two eldest Weasley boys, Bill and Charlie, were in the kitchen. They knew they wouldn't be able to sleep that night, and so they had stayed there, chatting over some butterbeers, waiting to replace the people on guard in a couple of hours.

"Pity the fuocciris wouldn't help us," Bill was saying dejectedly.

"Yeah..." Mundungus said, "although I think it's probably better this way..." Six pairs of surprised eyes fixed on him. "I don't think we would have been able to concentrate on our spells with such beauties around us." A round of offended growls followed this statement. "Oh, come on! Don't tell me you didn't like them! They were perfect! All curves and shy eyes." He said, battling his eyelashes seductively. All his companions laughed heartily at his bad characterisation. "I certainly wouldn't have been able to hit a Death Eater standing in front of me while I had something as beautiful and distracting to look at. No way. And I don't mind what you say, I don't think you would have been able to concentrate either." Another round of protests followed Mundungus' last sentence.

Then there was an amused silence while they all thought about the beautiful women they had seen that evening. There weren't witches like those fuocciris, they were pretty sure of that.

Lupin, who had been fingering his wand, suddenly lifted his head and looked at Bill Weasley, then he said confidentially to the others: "You know what? The fuocciri who saved Bill's life _kissed_ him. And I don't mean a silly kiss, I mean she really _kissed_ him."

"Yeah, that's right! She was the one serving the tea to the women during the meeting," Charlie confirmed.

All the men turned to look at Bill, who was now very red. "Well, I don't even remember it. I guess it was part of the ritual she had to perform to heal me."

"Yes, it probably was," Lupin agreed nodding, "but it was still very impressive."

"I tried to catch her eye today, you know?" Bill admitted. A few of the men whistled. "No, no, it's not what you are thinking..." Some laughed. "Come on, it's obvious she is older than me, and she is too small to suit my taste, if you want to know. I just wanted to thank her once more for saving my life." He paused for a moment, and then added, with a sly smile on his face: "I wouldn't say no to her younger sister, though, the translator." A round of approving grunts showed the others found Samako very pretty too.

"And she has two sons," Sirius commented.

"What? Samako?" Bill asked, but he wasn't the only one who had turned to Sirius in surprise.

"No, the older one," Sirius said, and seeing he had the full attention of his companions, explained again all the details of the two kid's sudden appearance in Sandrine's house, although some of them had already heard that story more than once.

"The girl who saved you wasn't a fuocciri, right?" Charlie asked.

"No, a dansarine. And there were two jilguereis too, well, a jilguerei and a mermaid, to be exact," Sirius corrected himself.

"What was doing a mermaid with them?" Moody asked.

"Well, it was kind of weird, they didn't seem to like to talk about it very much, but Edvard, the guy I've told you about..."

"Beauxbuttons' DADA Professor?" Schacklebolt asked.

"Yeah, exactly, Sirius confirmed. "Well, he told me that Amanda, Professor McGonagall's niece, had kind of adopted her as her sister. She was very beautiful, mind you, with long green curls..."

"Sha-adi?" Charlie asked astounded.

"Yes, I think that was her name," Sirius answered surprised.

Everybody was looking at Charlie now. "We met her at St. Mungo's. She was the one who gave us the means to contact the fuocciris who saved Bill. I thought there couldn't be many girls with soft long green curls." The boy explained.

"How do you know they were _soft_," Sirius said, with a wicked smile on his face.

Charlie turned very red and tried to defend himself. "Well, it... it just looked incredibly soft, you know. I didn't touch it." There was a roar of laughter from the men in the kitchen.

"You hadn't told me about her, Charlie!" Bill joked. "It's obvious she caused a big impression in you."

"Well," Charlie admitted, still very red, but looking a little hurt at everybody's fun of him, "she looked very nice, you know? And it's thanks to her that you are still here with us, you know? She had nothing to do with us at all, not everybody would have helped us like she did."

Bill and the others had to give him that, and so they stopped mocking him.

"So Sirius," Mundungus said, "tell us about those girls you met. Were they as beautiful as the fuocciris we've seen today?"

The handsome wizard thought for a moment, and then said: "Well, I don't think you could say they are more beautiful or less. They are just different." The others waited for the details without even blinking. It had been too long since they had found a subject that would let them talk like that, without worrying, without having to think constantly in Voldemort, or dangers, or death.

"Sandrine is blonde with green eyes. Quite exuberant, if you know what I mean," Sirius said, accompanying his description with a most understandable gesture of his hands. "Amanda's beauty is not so striking at first, you know, but on second thought, she has a serene kind of beauty, one that won't die with the years. Amanda will go on being beautiful in a hundred years. She has long dark hair, and her blue eyes are really impressive. They make you feel... I don't know... It's like watching the sea in a calm warm spring morning. You just feel... calm, relaxed somehow."

All the men looked absolutely stunned at Sirius' suddenly poetic discourse, and so they didn't take the chance to mock him when he paused to think and recovered his usual matter-of-fact tone. It was lucky perhaps that Sirius was looking at the table in concentration and didn't look around him, and so he missed seeing Schacklebolt frozen in place with his butterbeer halfway to his open mouth, and Moddy's normal eye almost popping out of his face, and Mundungus' saliva falling from his open mouth, and the Weasleys looking mystified at each other, and specially Lupin deep in thought, with his brow furrowed.

"Sha-adi is very beautiful too," Sirius went on saying, and they all seemed to wake from their stunned state, "she is younger and her body is a bit fuller, but the most striking thing about her is that she always seems to be happy, or at least, in a positive mood, so, you see, I understand young Charlie, here." And Sirius finished his speech with a heartily laugh. He stopped abruptly, though, when he realised no one was laughing with him, and looked around.

All the men looked a bit uncomfortable about something, although some of them had smiled at Sirius' last joke. It was finally Mundungus who found the courage to ask what they all wanted to know:

"And... while you were there... wasn't there... I mean, didn't you have an affair or two with some of the girls?" Mundungus finished awkwardly.

"Oh, come on!" Sirius exclaimed indignantly, "I'm a gentleman!"

At this Lupin choked on his butterbeer and Schacklebolt had to hit him on the back to help him breath again. To everybody's surprise, when Remus finally recovered his breath, he stood swiftly and pointed his wand at Sirius. "I want to see Padfoot, please," he said, "NOW!" Everybody looked very surprised, but none of them as much as Sirius.

"Moony, what...?" Sirius started to ask, but his friend interrupted him.

"NOW!" He said in a dangerously serious voice.

Sirius stood slowly and turned into his animagus form and back. Remus took a deep breath and relaxed immediately. "Sorry, Sirius," he said, giving Black a playful shove before sitting down again.

"What was all that about, if I may ask?" Charlie asked. Sirius looked very interested too in hearing Remus' explanation.

"Sorry, it's just... Well, before... Azkaban..." Remus said awkwardly, avoiding Sirius' gaze, "Sirius didn't care much about being a gentleman, if you follow me. In fact, he was famous for being able to get any girl he wanted in less than a minute. He could, I have seen it many times. And he never cared about being a gentleman, if you want to know the truth. In fact, he broke many hearts. And he even used to laugh at us if we didn't manage to kiss a girl on our first date. I... I don't know, we haven't had much time to talk about women since we've met again, but I had the feeling something was amiss, and then I thought you could be an impostor or something. Sorry, Padfoot," Remus repeated, looking Sirius in the eye and biting his lips a bit remorsefully.

"That's ok, Remus, that's ok." Sirius said. "I guess you are right. I've changed, probably a lot. I'm not the carefree youth I used to be. Spending almost half of my life in Azkaban without a reason, then being three years on the run, always having to hide, and then dying and coming back to life again... My life hasn't followed the typical paths, and I've matured, though in an irregular way. I realise sometimes that I can be still very childish now and then, but then there are some things a man of my age cannot see as a young boy, even if they are the same person. I was probably a little bit reckless in my youth, but if you want to know it, what I'd really like now is to have a loving wife and lots of kids. Lots. I want to feel loved. I want to have the love I never truly had in my life."

They were all now staring at their bottles or at the table. The spell had been broken. They were back at having dark thoughts and depressing feelings. This wasn't right. Mundungus finished his butterbeer in one gulp and stood to get another. "That's all very heartbreaking, Black, but don't think you're gonna avoid my question so easily. So, tell us, what about those girls, Sandrine and the others. Nothing? Not even a chaste kiss?"

They all laughed a bit, and the light mood was back again, which they were thankful for.

Sirius thought for a moment. "Well, I must admit there was absolutely nothing. Sorry to disappoint you. You know? I find it strange now that I think about it. In fact, the night I got there, they had been already sleeping, and so they were wearing very _nice_ night-dresses," he said, raising his eyebrows suggestively.

At this his companions expressed their congratulations and asked for more. After a very detailed description of what the girls were wearing, they all had to agree with Bill's initial statement: "Pity the fuocciris wouldn't help them."

They were still talking about light things and trying to enjoy themselves for a while, when a sudden explosion rocked the house. They were all upstairs in a flash, since the noise had come from there, apparently from the room where the others were sleeping. They had been right, when they reached the door, a thick column of blue smoke was coming out of door. They entered, wands at the ready, but started laughing like mad when they realised what had truly happened. 

It seemed some of the sleeping bags the twins had conjured up were one of their own inventions. "Blasting Bags," they were saying, "sleeping bags that explode when someone snores, covering them in thick blue paint." Mr. Dursley was now covered in blue paint from head to foot, and looking ready to kill. Mrs. Weasley looked ready to kill too, and Remus had to use all of his polite persuasiveness to calm her and save the twin's skin.

After a while, everybody settled again and went back to sleep. Mundungus and Moody replaced Mrs. Weasley and Percy, Shacklebolt and Charlie covered the second floor, and Lupin and Sirius guarded the first floor. Bill went to sleep, because he was leaving the very same day on a mission for the Order, and there were people enough on guard anyway.

While parading their corridor, Remus thought it was due time that he did some talking with Sirius. Their little chat with the others in the kitchen had made him realise Sirius was right: he had changed, they both had changed, and Remus felt he owed it to their friendship to try and know each other again. It was truth, they had helped each other in the last years, had always been there for one another, but they had mostly talked about the Order, Voldemort, Harry... even Snape sometimes. In brief, they had talked about many things, but not about themselves, not about the men they had become.

"Sirius," he started awkwardly, "I wanted to apologise once more about before..."

Sirius shook his head and put his right hand on Remu's left shoulder while they walked along the corridor. "Moony, it's ok, I understand..."

"No, please, let me finish," Remus interrupted him, stopping mid-step and facing his friend.

Sirius studied for a second Remus' serious face and then nodded.

"Thanks," Remus said. Sirius forced a smile.

Lupin swallowed with difficulty and then resumed his pacing, with Sirius at his side. "You know," Remus said, "I think we need to talk. We should have probably done it long ago, but I guess we never had the chance. Now it's as good a moment as any other, and I doubt we'll have a second of peace in the following days." Sirius had to agree silently. "We have both changed, Sirius. It's not only because you've been in Azkaban, it's because we've grown. Who knows how our lives would be now if Voldemort hadn't killed James and Lily, if Peter hadn't betrayed them, if we were all still alive. You know, I sometimes think that maybe we wouldn't be friends any more."

Sirius tried to protest, but Remus shook his head and looked at him, begging him to let him finish now that he had finally started speaking, so Sirius complied.

"Those things happen, Sirius. When you are in school you think you'd die if someone would separate you from your best friends, but then, people grow up, and change, and move to a different place, maybe a different country, and they loose contact, not on purpose nor willingly, it just happens. Suddenly you realise you haven't spoken to a friend for some months. You always want to write to them, but then some more months pass, and when you realise you feel both guilty and deceived. Guilty because you haven't tried to contact them for so long, and deceived because they haven't tried either to contact _you_, and that hurts. I wonder sometimes if that could have happened to the Marauders."

"No," Sirius said, shaking his head, "that would have never happened to us, and I'm sorry I made the mistake of pursuing Peter instead of trying to contact you or Dumbledore, because even with James... and Peter... gone, we could have still stayed together, Moony. I know how much you depended on us, and I'm sorry I failed you."

They both remained silent for a moment, until Remus finally spoke again. "Enough of thinking about the past. What happened can't be changed now, and I didn't want to deal on what we've lost, but on what we could have in the future. I think we need to start anew, Sirius. We don't know each other any more, because we've changed so much. We hang on to the memory we have of each other, but we are not those careless youths anymore, as you said in the kitchen. We are men who have grown and matured, and we might not like each other as we used to, Sirius."

"I absolutely refuse to believe we can no longer be friends as we always used to be." Sirius said firmly. "It's true, I was probably closer to James, but you know I always appreciated you, Moony. You were always the voice of reason of our reckless consciences, and we might have never told you, but we knew how important that was to us. I'm sure we can still be the best of friends, Remus, if you want to, but I think you are right, we should probably try to get to know each other from the start."

Remus smiled in an unsure way at his friend, but then had to laugh at Sirius' comical pose when the animagus stood straight facing him, offered him his hand and said pompously: "Sirius Black, you know, of the ancient and most hated House of Black. Pleased to meet you."

Remus fought to control his laughter, and when he finally succeeded, he shook Sirius' hand while saying: "Remus Lupin, you know, werewolf and complete nullity when it comes to sewing charms, at your service."

They both bowed comically and then went on pacing, trying to stifle their laughter, so as not to awake the people in the house. After a moment, they turned serious once more, though.

Remus was the first to start speaking, and he tried to describe to Sirius how he had felt when James and Lilly had been killed, his surprise when he had known Sirius was in Azkaban, his sadness at loosing Peter too, and how he had struggled through life, alone and friendless, afraid of trusting too much in anyone or of loving someone too much...

He explained all about his different jobs and his various and short love affairs. He told him how he had felt in knowing he had escaped Azkaban, how his heart had jumped in his chest when he had met James' son, and how his year of teaching at Hogwarts had been the best and the worst of his life at the same time. The best, because he loved the job. The worst, because he had struggled with his conscience throughout the year, divided between telling Dumbledore Sirius was an animagus or hiding it from the old wizard he admired so much...

He told him about Snape, and how they had seemed to reach a kind of truce until the night in the Shrieking Shack. He told him how his heart had won over his brain for the first time in many years when he saw Sirius again and decided to trust him. And finally he told him how he had cried when he had lost Sirius again at Bellatrix's hands, without having even recovered him completely yet.

Then it was Sirius' turn.

He talked about his pure pain when he saw James and Lily's bodies. His rage when he faced Peter. His desperation while in Azkaban and his suffering under the Dementors. Then he told him about his madness at Peter for being so close to Harry, ready to betray him again. His need to escape. His frantic search for the boy. His pride while watching him play Quidditch. His panic when Snape caught them and Peter escaped, taking his last hope of freedom with him...

He expressed his thankfulness when Harry and Hermione had rescued him. His uneasiness about Harry's wellbeing. His hope in Dumbledore's help. His horror at having to go back to his parents' house, where so many offending memories surrounded him constantly. His desperation to get out of the house, to be able to help the Order, to do something useful. His absurd arrogant boastfulness in front of Bellatrix, that had cost him his life. And his strange coldness when he met Sandrine and her friends.

"You know," Sirius admitted, "I hadn't really thought about it until Mundungus mentioned it this evening, but I can't help but wonder why I didn't feel anything when I met Sandrine. It's difficult to explain, because you haven't met her, but I can assure you she is really beautiful, and Amanda, and Sha-adi... You know, I wonder if maybe..." Sirius' voice faltered for a moment. He wasn't used any more to trusting people with his fears. "If maybe I've become incapable of feeling attracted to a woman. If the Dementors took a part of me and I'm no longer completely human." Sirius swallowed and looked out of the window. They were now sitting on a windowsill, with the first rays of light of the new day changing the colour of the sky.

Remus cleared his throat. He didn't think much of himself as a counsellor, but he knew he had to say something to put his friend's uneasiness at rest. "Sirius, you had just _resurrected_. Don't you think that's reason enough to be so shocked that anything else wouldn't matter? I mean, if it had been me, I'm sure that I wouldn't have noticed Sandrine's beauty even though she would have danced for me the dance of the seven veils, naked." He smiled reassuringly at his friend.

"I guess you are right," Sirius commented, but he didn't look too convinced.

"And maybe..." Remus started, and Sirius looked at him expectantly, "maybe you didn't notice Sandrine much, because your attention had been caught by another person."

"Another person?" Sirius asked nonplussed. "Who?"

Remus tried to disguise his amusement. "Amanda?" He said, finally laughing at Sirius' stunned face.

"Amanda?" The animagus repeated. "What do you mean? There's nothing between Amanda and me." Sirius defended himself, but couldn't help a small smile too at Remus' obvious mirth.

"No, of course not," Remus conceded. "I'm just wondering if you would like that to change. You like Amanda, don't you?"

"Well..." Sirius replied thoughtfully, "she is certainly beautiful, but I don't really know her, Moony. Oh, come on, stop laughing at me. What is it?"

Remus recited in a theatrical voice between chuckles: "She has a serene kind of beauty, one that won't die with the years. Her blue eyes make you feel as if you were watching the sea in a calm warm spring morning."

"What are you on about, Remus?" Sirius asked, amused but not sure that he understood his friend.

"Me?" Remus asked, still trying to control his laughter. "What are _you_ on about, Sirius? Those were your words when you described Amanda to us. I've met her too, remember? When she brought you here. And I agree with you that she is very beautiful and her eyes are really striking, but I'm sorry to tell you I didn't fell in a silly poetic mood when I saw her."

Sirius' cheeks were turning pretty red. "Did I really say all that nonsense?" Remus nodded, still smiling. "In front of the men?" Remus nodded once more, this time laughing openly. "So? What does Doctor Moony say about it?"

Remus sighed and then looked Sirius in the eye. "I think you are in love, my friend."

"WHAT?" Sirius had shouted so much that Moony paled and for a moment they both stayed silent, worried that they had awoken somebody or attracted the other auror's attention unnecessarily.

"You heard me," Remus said in a no nonsense tone. "I think you are in love with Professor McGonagall's niece."

"Oh, no!" Sirius cried in despair. Put like that, it sounded really bad. He pictured for a moment saying 'Auntie Minnie' to the strict Professor McGonagall and almost fainted. He wasn't yet over her motherly kisses.

They both remained silent for a moment, and then Sirius reopened the subject. "You know, Moony, I'm not sure I'm in love. I like her, I'll give you that. I probably like her more than it's wise, but love... I don't think this could be love."

Moony pondered his friends' words for a moment. "Ok, maybe you're not in love. Yet. But this at least solves one of your worries."

"How so?" Sirius asked.

"Well, now you know you are still capable of feeling attracted to the fair sex."

Sirius rolled his eyes. "Do you have to speak like that? The fair sex?"

"Oh, excuse me!" Remus said jokingly. "I was just trying to match your poetic mood."

"My poetic mood is long gone for good, Moony, you can call them women."

"Right. Does that calm your worries? Do you believe now you can have feelings like any other man?"

"Yes, ok. Although if I remember correctly, I never had much _feelings_ for the girls." Sirius snickered.

"That's true," Remus sighed, "they were always crazy in love with you, but you never really cared for anyone. Just my complete opposite. Whenever I noticed a girl, the next moment I was already head over heels for her, only to be ignored most of the times, remember?" Remus sighed again. "Until I learned my lesson."

"Which means?" Sirius asked.

"A werewolf must never fall in love. He's only gonna end up with his heart broken in the end."

Sirius was lost for words, so he just gave Remus a playful shove to lighten the mood.

"Mr. Black, Professor Lupin!" Both men turned to the end of the corridor. "Mum sent me to tell you breakfast is ready," Ginny announced.

"Thanks, Ginny," Remus answered. The girl smiled and turned to go, but Remus called her back. "And Ginny! Thanks for being interested in joining our little group."

Ginny smiled sweetly. "That's ok, thank you for inviting me."

Remus nodded and smiled at her, and when she left, both men stretched a bit their tired limbs and headed for the kitchen, all the awkwardness between them gone, and their friendship as strong as it had ever been.

*****

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Thanks for the reviews!

Thanks all for reading and reviewing!

I enjoyed very much writing this chapter, I hope you liked it. ;-)

Any Slytherins out there? In Chapter 16 Draco Malfoy joins the story, and there is a small surprise waiting for you...

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Momoko: Thanks very much for your review. My answer needs to be a bit long in this case. You are partly right about the names. I didn't really look for Chinese names, because my idea was that the ashanriis are used to travel around a lot -thanks to astral doors- and thus you can't strictly assign them a muggle nationality or country. That the Princess of the fuocciris and her escort speak Chinese doesn't mean that their ancestors were Chinese too, there could be someone of Japanese origin in their family. There are certainly fuocciris in Japan, although very few. The Chinese community is the biggest one, that's why I decided their Princess would have been born there, although not necessarily to Chinese parents. The same happens with the other ashanriis in my story too: Sandrine Aires (dansarine, French name, Spanish surname), Amanda Ming (jilguerei, English name, Chinese surname -I think), Sha-adi Ming (jilguerei, her name comes from a song by a Spanish singer called Ana Torroja, she has a song about a mermaid called Shaadi, I changed the spelling a bit), Grace Guillaume (dansarine, English name, French surname). I was looking for names with a hard sound -like "ko", that's why I chose Yamiko and Samako. I wanted them to be kind of similar too (-iko, -ako), because both sisters have a lot of things in common. Their surname comes from 'San', as you very well guessed, but I changed it on purpose. I was looking for something short and... well, I needed something with a part of Samako's name on it, you'll see why in later chapters. I didn't care much if it could be a real Chinese name. I appreciate your comment and I realise now maybe I should have thought the names better or I shouldn't have insisted so much in the language the characters speak. If I ever write another fic with OC, I'll think about it more carefully. I regret to say I don't think it would be wise to change the ashanriis' names now, because it would only confuse readers. I hope, apart from that, you are enjoying the story. ;-)

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Kady Rilla Wholi: Thanks! I hope you liked Sirius and Remus little chat.

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hermionegreen: Don't worry, that the Princess didn't want to join sides with anybody doesn't mean the Order won't find people willing to help them -I hope.

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Lily Skylo: Yes, I'm afraid the Death Eaters might and _will_ come, but not yet, so don't worry about it too much. ;-)


	16. Malfoy Manor

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Disclaimer: The characters that look familiar to you belong to J. K. Rowling. The ones you cannot find in any of her books are mine. I don't intend to make any money out of this. I'm just having some fun.

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Malfoy Manor

Amanda stopped for a moment at the gates and looked up at the grand house, still far away, but already visible in the distance. She had been there many times and had even stayed for long periods of her life, but she still had to marvel every time at the whiteness of its walls and its welcoming appearance. From the gates, Malfoy Manor looked like a giant birthday cake made of whipped cream and meringue. The flowers in the balconies looked like caramel toppings, their petals tasting like strawberries and oranges and lemons, their leaves made of refreshing mint. That anyone living in such a place could have ever turned to the dark side had always been past her understanding. Knowing that in fact the Malfoys had been dark wizards for centuries made her shiver even under the warm comforting rays of the sun. Life was full of irony, there was no doubt of that.

Taking a deep breath, she opened the gates and walked up the path leading to the house, enjoying the enticing scent of the garden, an orgy of colours and life in this beautiful summer morning.

When she was near the house, she looked at the many doors and windows on the facade, expecting to see Narcissa or Draco any moment. They had to know she was there, because the gates of the house were charmed to warn its inhabitants whenever someone crossed them, so that they could welcome their guests as it would be expected from a Malfoy -or, if the visitor wasn't 'welcome', to give the Malfoys time enough to escape or find a suitable excuse to avoid them.

For a moment she started wondering if maybe Narcissa had taken Draco away for the summer. She hadn't thought of writing to her first, because the Malfoys rarely left their residence for long periods of time, but in the present circumstances, with the family name disgraced and Lucius in prison, maybe Narcissa had moved to a more quite and retired place where nobody would dare to come and insult her or Draco. The silhouette of a tall blond boy on one of the upper windows put her worries immediately at ease. The boy retreated immediately, and before Amanda had reached the door, he was already there to welcome her. He walked over to her, with a heartfelt smile on his young face.

"Auntie Mandy!" He exclaimed delighted. Amanda opened her arms and hugged him tenderly, then dishevelled his usually perfectly combed hair, a Malfoy characteristic trait. The girl took a step backwards to have a better look at the teenager, and exclaimed delighted:

"For all the Princesses, but have you grown up!" That was true, she had seen Draco last summer and he had barely reached her nose then, but now it was _her_ who barely reached _his_ chin. "Did you take a potion or something to grow faster or am I shrinking?" Amanda asked laughing.

Draco smiled at her. "No potions, I promise." He said, with a hand on his heart. "Have you come to stay for the summer?" He asked.

"Well, I'm not sure yet..." Amanda replied awkwardly. "I heard about your father and I... I wanted to see how you were doing."

Draco looked at the floor for a moment, his hands in his pockets now. "Well, not very well, really. Mother spends the day crying in her room. I checked on her before coming downstairs to see if she was fit to be seen, but she was asleep, so I decided not to wake her. It's been really hard for her. When I came back for the holidays, the worst was already behind. After Father was captured and sent to prison, Ministry aurors came everyday to raid the house. They didn't find anything really incriminating, because Father has always taken good care of keeping the house as clear as possible of dark objects and the likes, but they still searched and searched for days. They broke the Crystal Cabinet, you know, the place where Mother kept all the presents her family had made her when she married Father."

Amanda was shocked. She knew how much that would have hurt Narcissa.

"Yeah..." Draco said, seeing her worried expression. "There were very valuable things there, as you may suppose, but the worst of it is that for my Mother they had an incalculable sentimental value. It was her pride. Those objects represented the history of the Black family through the centuries. You know none of her sisters was much interested in family tradition. No need to mention Andromeda, I guess, she was disgraced when she married that muggle, Tonks, and you know Auntie Bellatrix was always more inclined to action than society. Mother was the perfect Black hostess, the one that reminded the whole world that the Blacks and the Malfoys are worthy of respect, and _that_ with the only weapons of her beauty and her manners. All this is being too much for her." The boy said sadly, his eyes fixed again on the floor.

Amanda put her arm through his and started walking into the house. "I'm sorry, Draco, I really am. You know how much I love your mother. She's been like an older sister to me. I don't know what I would have done without her. I'll talk to her later, and if she wants me to stay, I will. But I'm not sure she'll want me here. Maybe she can't stand to have a McGonagall in her house anymore."

"No," Draco said, looking at Amanda again, "you know we don't mind who your ancestors were, like you choose to forget we are dark wizards and befriend us against your aunt's opinion. Whatever happens, Auntie Mandy, you'll always be welcome at Malfoy Manor."

Amanda smiled sadly at him, but then stopped and looked up to better look at him: "We?" She asked. Draco didn't seem to understand, so she added: "You said '_we_ are dark wizards', but I don't feel the Dark Mark on your skin." Amanda waited, holding her breath, while Draco swallowed uncomfortably.

"I haven't joined the Dark Lord yet, auntie Mandy, but I will. I know you don't approve of it and you hoped I wouldn't follow my Father's steps, but I must now, I owe it to him. The Dark Lord will free him and make his captors pay, and I want to be there when that happens."

It was now Amanda's turn to look at the floor. She was trying very hard to keep her tears from falling and she didn't want Draco to notice, but he did anyway, because her voice trembled when she spoke. "When are you going to..." She couldn't even finish her question.

"I'm not sure yet, the Dark Lord must put me to the test yet. He knows I want to be his servant. McNair told him, I asked him to deliver my message to the Master. So I guess it's only a matter of time now." There was an awkward silence. Draco put his right hand on top of Amanda's, still curled around his left elbow.

"Auntie Mandy... there's something you should know." Amanda didn't answer, but Draco knew she was listening, so he went on: "Some Death Eaters will be staying with us too this summer." Draco paused, but Amanda still didn't speak. "Our house has been raided already. The Ministry won't come back soon. They know Mother is not a Death Eater, and so they cannot take her away. The aurors know or suspect the identity of some of my Father's friends, and Mother decided to offer them sanctuary for as long as she could. I'm not sure yet how many will stay, but they will definitely hold some meetings here, in Father's secret study. I know how little you like my Father's friends and their dealings, so I'd rather be honest with you. Mother and I will be both delighted if you stay, and I'm sure she needs your company more than anything. But if you'd rather not sleep under the same roof than the Dark Lord's followers, we'll understand."

Amanda could feel Draco's heart beating madly in his chest. She was glad that Draco was honest enough to talk to her like this. It was true she didn't like at all Lucius' friends, but she wasn't going to leave Narcissa alone with those criminals. She didn't think Death Eaters were honourable, and she doubted they would respect Narcissa's authority nor body. At least, with a jilguerei at home, they would think it twice before trying to assault her. And while she stayed, she would have still a chance of rescuing Draco out of the Dark Lord's claws. She had known the child since his birth. She had sung to him so many times to put him to sleep... she had cooked him his favourite pastries so often... she had cared about him for so long... Draco was almost like her own child. She knew perfectly well he wasn't like his father. Lucius was a deprived man, he had always been. But Draco had in him the sweet disposition of his mother, and Amanda had always hoped he wouldn't follow his father's dark path. That hope still remained in her heart, and Amanda swore to herself that she'd do anything in her power to save Draco from a most unhappy and frustrating life. And well... she had to stay anyway.

"I'll stay if your mother wants me to, Draco, but don't expect me to be nice to your father's friends," Amanda finally said.

Draco nodded and smiled. "Thanks," he said, with a sigh of relieve. They were now in the middle of the richly decorated foyer. "Shall I go and wake Mother now?" The boy asked.

Amanda thought for a moment. "No," she finally said. "I bet she hasn't slept much lately. What if we go to the kitchen and I cook dinner for a change? We can wake her when everything is ready."

"Very well, Auntie Mandy, as you wish." Draco knew Amanda loved cooking, and he loved her meals too, so he wasn't going to complain. They headed for the kitchen, at the back of the house, with wide windows looking to Narcissa's small kitchen garden and greenhouse. When they entered it, Amanda's hand still on Draco's arm, the boy ordered the house-elves out of the kitchen. Amanda didn't like much the way the Malfoys treated their servants, so she added a shy 'Thanks!' after his harsh words. The elves bowed respectfully and left before their young master kicked their asses.

Amanda spent some time exploring the cupboards and the kitchen garden. When she had all the ingredients she would need for her recipe, she put the vegetables for the Salad au gratin she was going to cook and started working the floor for her famous Chocolate and prunes cake. Draco poured himself a drink and took a sit on one of the stools in the kitchen. Watching Amanda cook reminded him of his childhood days. Amanda started singing without even noticing it. She always did when she cooked. Draco smiled. She looked so beautiful, with her sleeves rolled up her arms, her hair in a ponytail and a white apron on top of her simple yet elegant dress. The sun that bathed the kitchen gave her a supernatural glow, and her voice sounded happy and calming. He knew he probably shouldn't ask, but there was a question that had hunted him for the last three years. He took a sip of his red wine.

"Auntie Mandy..."

"Yes?" Amanda turned to him a bit, with a smile on her face, but went on preparing the baking tray.

"Why haven't you married?"

Amanda eyebrows almost disappeared under her fringe. She stopped what she was doing and took a good look at Draco and then at his drink. Without saying a thing, she washed her hands on the sink and dried them with her apron. She then went over to him and took the glass from his hand. She smelled the liquid and took a sip.

"Hmmm, delicious. I must admit the Malfoys know how to spend their fortune. But aren't you too young to be drinking wine before dinner?"

"Come on, I'm already fifteen!"

"Ooooooooooh, _fifteen_," Amanda mocked him. "Tell me, do you really like wine?" She asked shrewdly.

Draco looked a little bit annoyed for a moment, but then replied: "No, not really."

"So, why do you drink it?"

"Father always does," Draco answered.

"Humph," Amanda muttered. "Draco, you don't need to imitate your father, you know? You must be your own man. If you don't like wine, don't drink it. If you don't dislike the house-elves, don't kick their asses. If you don't want to become a Death Eater, don't do it."

Draco rolled his eyes, but laughed all the same. "I should have known something like that was coming. Amanda Ming doesn't interrupt her cooking unless there is a good reason for it."

"So you _see_ I have a good reason, don't you? Well, at least that's a beginning." She smiled triumphantly.

"Auntie Mandy, please..."

"Ok." Amanda knew she shouldn't press the matter too much. A hint now and then would be enough. "What would you like to drink, young man?"

Draco thought for a moment. "Butterbeer?"

Amanda nodded with a serious face. "Butterbeer sounds nice. I'll finish your wine," she said, and winked at him before going back to her work.

Draco stood and went to pick a butterbeer for himself. After opening it, he went back to his stool. "You haven't answered my question," he said, failing to disguise his amusement.

Amanda turned her face to him, her brow furrowed in mock annoyance. "Why should I marry?"

Draco choked on his butterbeer. "Well, isn't that obvious? Everybody has to marry sooner or later. Only very ugly people or freaks don't do it."

Amanda looked at him in disbelief. "I think the cake is going to be ruined." She took the cocoa and added large quantities to the mixture of floor, salt, sugar and butter. Then mixed it all with her long fingers. "Draco, that someone doesn't marry doesn't mean necessarily nobody wants them. Maybe they just don't want to end up with the first idiot that they meet just to fulfil social expectations. Many people marry without love, Draco. Some of them reach an agreeable understanding with their partners and others hate them through and through. I'd much rather live alone than marry someone I don't truly love. Of course, I'm still _young_," she said looking pointedly at him, "and hope I'll find someone _yet_ before I'm much older. If I haven't been lucky in the next one hundred years, I might change my mind, though. You never know." They both laughed.

"I wonder what are men your age thinking of. If I was a little bit older, I wouldn't let you off the hook so easily," Draco said, and raised his left brow twice in a suggestive gesture.

Amanda threw a cloth at him and hit him on the face. "Show some respect to your elders, young man, or I might find it necessary to have a very serious conversation with your mother."

Draco laughed unashamed. "You know she'd be delighted. After Caesar, I'm probably the most eligible man for you in her opinion."

Amanda just grunted in desperation.

"By the way, Caesar will probably be here this summer too," Draco added slowly, weighting Amanda's reaction.

She just turned once more her disgruntled face to him. "Draco," she said in a very serious tone, "if I end up throwing up in the mixture for your favourite cake, would you eat it anyway?"

Draco grimaced. "I'm not sure I love you that much, Auntie Mandy," he said playfully.

"That's exactly what I thought," she said with mock annoyance. "Well, you'd better stop mentioning disgusting things while I work, dear, I have a very sensitive stomach."

Draco laughed. "So I gather he has no chance at all? I always thought you made the perfect couple."

Amanda nodded. "I did too for a very long time, Draco. But I realised in time our relationship was a mistake. You know, Caesar would have been the perfect husband for many reasons: he is your father's brother, and thus Narcissa and I would have become legally sisters after feeling like siblings for almost half of our lives. I would have become your real aunt, and you know that would be a great honour to me." Amanda looked Draco in the eye and he turned a little bit red at this. She went back immediately to her playful tone and added: "Although now that you are going to become a Death Eater... I might change my mind..." She said pouting.

Draco sighed and rolled his eyes. "Auntie Mandy..."

"Right," she said, but she had already delivered hint number two. "Caesar is shamefully rich, and I would have had anything in the world. Anything money can buy, I mean. He belongs to a good family... Well, let's strike that."

"Auntie!" Draco exclaimed equally outraged and amused at the girl's insult.

"And... last but not least... he is _very_ handsome." Amanda said raising her eyebrows playfully. "But we were incompatible," she added, a little bit more serious now. "At the beginning it was all perfect. I was mad about him. He was, he _is_, so gorgeous. I loved his long soft blonde hair, his grey stormy eyes, his pointed proud chin... He treated me like a queen, too, and at the time I was desperate for some attention, so he didn't really have to work that hard to have me dreaming about him day and night. But then both of us grew. I wasn't a silly girl dreaming about her prince charming any more. I became a strong independent woman who needed a man who would share her views on life, and Caesar wasn't that man. He wanted a pretty wife he could show around. A pureblood or, even better in my case, a jilguerei. He needs someone with no brain and a lot of tact, and you know too well that I _do_ have a brain -although I might not always behave as if I do-, but what I certainly don't know is what tact is." Amanda added, with an apologetic face.

"That's not true," Draco protested.

Amanda didn't reply, she just busied herself finally putting the mixture in the oven. "You know what the worst was?" She finally asked, looking at Draco. The boy shook his head slowly. "He never really loved me, Draco. He never did. I was his ideal of a wife, I fulfilled her parents' requisites for a daughter-in-law, and that's all he cared about. I've wondered many times if he is even capable of feeling love. I doubt it. I cried for months after I realised he didn't love me," Amanda explained sadly, "but I knew I had to break up the relationship before it was too late. I spent with him eight years of my life, Draco, and though I don't regret it, I'm not going to go back to it. Caesar is a chapter of my life closed for good. I moved on three years ago, and I'm not going back again, ever." Amanda washed her hands on the sink and then took a sip of her wine.

Draco looked lost in thought himself, so she turned her attention to the vegetables she had picked before. She took a long sharp knife in her right hand and a pepper in her left hand. She then sighed and said: "You know what, Draco? I'm glad you mentioned Caesar. I always cut the vegetables much faster if I think I'm cutting someone's body into pieces instead of just innocent peppers." That comment took Draco out of his reverie, and they both laughed once more.

After cutting and washing all the vegetables, adding some spices and putting some butter between the multicoloured bits, Amanda put the mixture in another oven, took her glass to Draco so that he would refill it, and then sat comfortably in front of him.

"Now, young man," she said, and Draco smiled instantly, because he knew that tone of voice well enough. "I've told you about my boring frustrating love live, what about yours? I'm sure you're breaking many young girls' hearts at school."

Draco turned a bit red and laughed. "No, they don't even notice me. They are all mad about _Potter_."

Amanda couldn't help a chuckle. "Harry Potter is in your same year?"

"Yeah," Draco said with a disgusted face.

"I gather you don't like him much."

"Like him? Are you mad? How could I ever like the boy who destroyed the Dark Lord's plans so many years ago? And he is very arrogant too. Thinks he is above the rest of us."

Draco sounded angrier every time. Amanda thought maybe she should change the subject, but she was too curious to do it. Her Aunt Minerva's description of the Boy Who Lived didn't match Draco's. On the other hand, when had anything her aunt said match the Malfoys' opinion?

"Why do you say he is arrogant?" She asked before taking a sip of her wine.

"I offered him my friendship when we met on our first train ride to Hogwarts, and he rejected it."

Amanda was very surprised at that. "He rejected it?" Draco nodded. Amanda asked suspiciously: "And may I ask how did you _offer_ him your friendship?"

"Well, I told him he didn't want to choose the wrong company, you know, like that muggle-loving Weasley he had been talking too."

Amanda smiled a bit. "Ai!" She sighed, "I guess I've been a bad influence in your life, Draco."

Draco looked lost.

"Your parents are both diplomatic enough if they want to be, so I guess that tactlessness must come from me." Amanda explained amused.

"You think I was tactless?" Draco asked nonplussed.

Amanda raised her hand a put two fingers almost together to show how little tactful she thought Draco had been.

Draco had never seen it from that point of view... No, but Potter was an arrogant anyway, he thought. "Anyway," he said aloud, "he is a Gryffindor."

"Oh, no, not again," Amanda begged. She still had headaches whenever she remembered her aunt's complains when her brother Benjamin had been sorted into Slytherin. All that interhouse hate was too irrational for her.

"So, what about the Slytherin girls, then? I bet they don't worship Potter, do they?"

"No," Draco conceded.

"And I've heard you asked a girl to be your partner for the Yule Ball a couple of years ago... What was her name? Something like Patsy, wasn't it?"

Draco looked absolutely surprised. "Pansy," he said. "How do you know?"

"Aaaaaaaah!" Amanda answered in her most mysterious tone, "I have my secret informants, you know."

Draco rolled his eyes again and smiled defeated at her. "Fine," he said.

"So? What about Pansy, then?" Amanda asked.

"There's nothing between Pansy and me," Draco said a little bit exasperated.

"Nothing? Are you sure? Nothing... nothing? Not even a chaste kiss?" Amanda asked laughingly.

"No!" Draco said, but then his cheeks coloured a bit before he said: "Well... we snogged a bit in the Slytherin common room after the ball, but we were both a little bit drunk."

"A-ha!" Amanda exclaimed triumphantly. "What then? Have you been dating?"

"No!" Draco looked utterly offended. "She has been sending me love letters, you know, with poems and the like, but I don't care about her."

"Oh." Amanda pouted. "And why is that?"

"I don't know," Draco shrugged. "I guess I feel that she doesn't really care about me, you know? It's a bit like what you said before about Uncle Caesar. I have the feeling all the girls, and specially Pansy, don't like me for myself, but because I'm the Malfoy heir."

"I see..." Amanda said thoughtfully. "And whose fault is that?"

"What do you mean?" Draco asked.

"I mean, do you behave like yourself with them, like you're behaving with me now, or do you behave like the great Malfoy heir."

Draco thought for a moment, and then said. "Touché. I probably don't give people the chance to know the real Draco. I have to uphold the Malfoy honour at school, and that's difficult sometimes. Maybe I should try to loose myself a bit." He lifted his butterbeer to a toast and clinked it against Amanda's glass. "You're right, as always."

"Exactly!" Amanda said, standing. "And that's why you should listen to me and say 'No' to the Dark Lord."

Draco rolled his eyes and let go and exaggerated sigh, while Amanda turned giggling to go to the oven. That had been hint number three.

She checked both the cake and the vegetables and turned to Draco. "Dinner is almost ready, could you please lay the table?"

Strange enough, Draco didn't look offended at this. Whenever Amanda cooked and his Father wasn't at home, his Mother, Amanda and himself usually ate in his Mothers' greenhouse, where they could enjoy a peaceful environment while they ate and talked with ease. In those rare occasions, Draco usually helped Amanda and his Mother by laying the table for them. He complied immediately and went to take a white small tablecloth and the matching napkins they reserved for these intimate meals. He took some cutlery too, and then left through the kitchen's door.

Meanwhile, Amanda busied herself adding some cheese to the vegetables and cutting the chocolate sponge in half. She then proceeded to whip some cream and mix it with prune's marmalade. She covered the inferior part of the sponge with the mixture and then put the other half on top carefully. She spread some more whipped cream with prune's marmalade around the sponge and on top of it, and decorated the top with pealed prunes cut in two. She had just put a cooling charm on the cake when Draco came back. "Ready," he said. "Shall I open another bottle of wine?"

Amanda looked at the almost full bottle open on the kitchen table. "No, we'll finish that one first. What are you going to drink?"

"Apple juice," Draco said, and Amanda smiled to herself.

"Shall I go and wake Mother now?" Draco asked.

"No, I'll do it, Draco," Amanda said. She took off her apron and went to the toilet to wash her face and comb her hair a bit. Then went upstairs to the Malfoys' room.

Narcissa was lying with her back to the door, her left arm covering her face, protecting her eyes from the light coming in through the window. The sheets were a mess, as her soft blonde hair was. It was obvious she had moved quite a bit in her slumber, or maybe before finally falling asleep. Amanda approached her on tiptoe and sat slowly on the edge of the bed. She reached out then and touched Narcissa's shoulder lightly.

"Narcissa," she whispered, while shaking her softly. She got no response.

"Narcissa. Issa," Amanda insisted, a little bit louder this time.

A small grunt escaped Narcissa's lips. "Issa, it's me, Mandy. Wake up, dinner is ready." Amanda insisted, and this time her words seemed to finally penetrate the sleep barrier and Narcissa moved the arm covering her face away. She blinked in the light, still not completely awaken, and finally fixed her eyes on Amanda's smiling face.

"Mandy," she said with difficulty, her throat was dry. "Dear, why didn't you write to me to say you were coming?" The diligent hostess was already working before the woman had had even time to awake completely.

"I just wanted to see how you were doing," Amanda said in a worried tone. "I heard about Lucius."

Narcissa nodded weakly and then tried to sit on the bed. Amanda looked at her. Her friend looked very thin and her eyes were red from crying. Pity that such a wonderful woman had made the mistake of falling in love with Lucius Malfoy.

"I don't even know where they have him," Narcissa explained in a very low tone, as if afraid words could hurt her. "I've been to the Ministry several times, but they just insulted me and sent me back home without a reply. For all that I know, he could be dead, Mandy." At this, she broke down and started to sob, covering her face with her hands.

Amanda embraced her. "Shhhh," she said, "that's ok. Don't cry, Issa, don't cry. I'm sure the Ministry wouldn't execute him. They probably keep him in a secret place to question him and for fear his companions might try to free him, but I don't think they will harm him."

Narcissa tried to control her sobs. "Yes, I guess you are right. I've said the same to myself many times, but it's been already a month, and nobody has taken the time to inform me and my son of what is going to happen to him now. Sometimes I think that whatever his end is going to be, I'd rather know it than live with this uncertainty much longer."

"I can understand that, Narcissa. You know what? I can go to the Ministry tomorrow and try to get some information on him. They don't know me, and so they might treat me a little bit better."

"No," Narcissa said, "I don't want you to get involved in our disgrace. I've talked to some of Lucius' friends, you know he had a lot of contacts in the Ministry. I should get some news any time now."

"Are you sure? I wouldn't mind," Amanda assured her.

Narcissa caressed Amanda's cheek with her hand. "I know you wouldn't Amanda, but I'd rather you stayed out of this."

Amanda nodded, and then tried to lift the mood. "Well, so come on now and get out of bed. Dinner is almost ready. I've cooked your favourite dish."

"Salad au gratin?" She asked with the first hint of a smile.

"Exactly," Amanda said, with a comically proud face.

"Hmmm, I'm suddenly starving!" Narcissa cried, and almost jumped out of the bed. "Give me five minutes so I can have a quick shower and put something more adequate on."

"Ok," Amanda said, "but nothing too elegant, look at what I'm wearing!"

"You look beautiful in whatever you wear, dear," Narcissa said, hugging Amanda before disappearing behind the bathrooms' door.

Amanda shouted "I'll be in the kitchen with Draco!"

"Ok!" Narcissa cried back through the closed door.

Amanda smiled to herself and went downstairs.

When Narcissa joined them in the kitchen, she looked as beautiful as ever, although a little bit tired, and certainly much thinner than the last time Amanda had seen her. She was wearing a plain pale pink robe that Draco always associated with his childhood days. It was something Narcissa had had for many years, but that she only wore when she really felt comfortable with the people she was with. She smiled at them and took gratefully the glass of wine Draco offered her.

"Thank you, dear," Narcissa said, kissing her son's forefront lovingly. "Well, I smell the food, but cannot see it," she said, surveying the room.

"Oh, no," Amanda said offended, "we are not going to eat in the kitchen," she explained and looked at Draco meaningfully. Draco took the hint, and offering his arms to both women said pompously: "My ladies, if you'd do me the honour of your company."

Amanda and Narcissa exclaimed delighted, as if they had just been asked to dance by the man of their dreams. Each of them took one of Draco's arm and followed him to the greenhouse. When they entered, they aed again. Draco had really surpassed himself this time. There was a beautiful bunch of flowers in the middle of the table, and he had also put some candles with rose petals on the table.

They all seated themselves and Amanda started serving the vegetables while Draco poured them some more wine. That evening, they talked about this and that, forgetting about the imminent war for a moment and enjoying themselves like none of them had done for a very long time.

When they finally went to bed, Amanda occupied once more her usual room at Malfoy Manor. She took a refreshing shower and then sat in front of the mirror and started combing her hair. One hundred strokes, it was tradition. That's how the ashanriis kept their hair always healthy and soft.

Tonight, though, she lost count. She had had her misgivings when Dumbledore had asked her to spy for the Order, but it wasn't until now that she realised how difficult that would be and how much she could loose if anybody were to find out she had taken sides in the war instead of remaining neutral, as Narcissa and Draco thought she was. She really cared for them, but she had lived a war before, and she knew personal sacrifices had to be made. Voldemort had to be defeated, no matter what, and she knew she had made the right choice, although it was probably the most difficult too.

For a moment she thought of Draco. Of how he trusted her blindly. Did he trust anyone else like that? She doubted it very much, and she dearly hoped she'd be able to convince him to change his mind before joining the Death Eaters, because if not... If not, they would be on opposite fronts, and Amanda Ming had no intention of loosing this war.

She had to laugh a bit at remembering how Draco had warned her about the Death Eaters who would come and probably stay in the house. If he knew the truth... Those Death Eaters were precisely the reason that she had come to stay in the first place. After numerous raids of the house and no success, the Ministry had asked Dumbledore for help, and he had done the only thing he could think of. He had sent to Malfoy Manor someone who knew the house like her own, someone who could move freely around without arousing anyone's suspicions, someone who was the last person Narcissa would ever suspect, someone she loved like a sister. Amanda looked at her reflection in the mirror and loathed herself. Tears of shame started running down her cheeks silently.

"Save your tears, there's nothing in the world that justifies a woman spoiling her looks like that," the mirror admonished in an authoritative tone.

Amanda changed her tears for hysterical laughter. Ha! If the mirror only knew...

*****

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Thanks for the reviews!

Thanks all for reading and reviewing!

Any Arithmancy experts out there? I just realised up to Chapter 15 my fic has 69969 words, I've received 96 reviews, and then 15 is... 1+5= 6! Do you think I should be worried? :D

Well, let's turn to more important matters: I know, I've put Amanda in a wasps' nest :-( Through her, we'll be able to know what is going on with the Death Eaters and Voldemort. Let's hope she is able to stay out of harm's way.

I'm sure many of you won't agree with my idea of Draco and Narcissa. Unlike many other HP-fans, I believe the Malfoys are a loving family, and Lucius and Narcissa really love each other. Draco's problem is not that he is scared or mistreated by his father, but rather that he has been born a Malfoy, and the Malfoys have had the wrong idea of what defines a good wizard for many centuries. He's just trying to be a good son and do what is expected of him. Around his relatives and intimate friends, I think he would probably be much more relaxed and caring. In public, though, he must be a Malfoy above all, that's why he's always so aloof. As for Narcissa, in my opinion she would be devastated by his husband's capture.

Next chapter will be much lighter... Love is on its way! :D

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hermionegreen: Your wishes have come true, at least to some extent. Amanda has made another appearance, but probably not where you would like her to be. She will meet Sirius again, but not too soon.

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Kadi Rilla Wholi: Aaaaaaah! I see you are getting a bit lost with the names. I'm sorry, it's all my fault. I'm planning to write a chapter soon where we kind of see again all the different ashanriis that have appeared in this story so far and see the relationships between them. I think a little explanation is due, though: Bill's life was saved basically by Yamiko Sam. She is the older of the two sisters. In the little chat the men have in the kitchen, Bill says he is more interested in the younger sister, though, Samako. The one who kissed him was Yamiko, so _not_ the one he 'likes'. Yamiko is probably in her mid-thirties -so too old for Bill. Samako is in her early twenties. I think Fleur and Bill don't really love each other, they just feel some attraction, so I don't think Fleur would suffer much if Bill were to leave her. But I'm not sure yet he will... ;-)

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Momoko: Thanks very much for your review. I'm glad you are enjoying my story. Remus and Sandrine will definitely meet in the future -in chapter 18, in fact. Will they fall in love? Well, I hope I'll be able to surprise you there. ;-)

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Makalani Astral: :D I know what you mean. Sirius and Remus seem to be made for each other. I regret to say that, much as I enjoy reading slash fiction, there is gonna be no slash in _Finding Allies_. If you like slash fics, I recommend you the stories written by The Treacle Tart and Lady Feylene. Not all of their fics are slash, and most of the ones that are partner Remus with Severus, but both authors have other fics about some other characters as well, including some Sirius/Remus. Let me know if you like them. ;-)

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Lily Skylo: Thanks! Now and then there must be some sadness in the story, so I like to give a humorous tone to the fic whenever I can. As I thought Remus and Sirius' conversation would probably be very serious, I tried to lighten the mood with Fred and George's help, and also with the little chat on the kitchen. ;-)

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Starfire: Welcome and thanks very much for taking the time to review several chapters at once. ;-) As for kimonos being Japanese, the explanation is the same I gave about the names of the ashanriis in the answers to reviews at the end of last chapter. Ashanriis have different kind of 'typical dresses' or uniforms, and they choose one or the other depending on the circumstances. Sometimes the fuocciris wear kimonos, but not always. In fact, ashanriis of every caste prefer muggle clothes to any other type, because they are much more varied. We'll see some examples of that in later chapters. I hope to hear from you again!


	17. Weasleys In Love

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Disclaimer: The characters that look familiar to you belong to J. K. Rowling. The ones you cannot find in any of her books are mine. I don't intend to make any money out of this. I'm just having some fun.

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Weasleys In Love

Ginny and Cho were having some tea after a very late dinner at St. Mungo's refectory. Neville had eaten with them too, but had gone back to work immediately because he was in the middle of preparing a potion for Benjamin and he didn't want to spoil it, although he had told them proudly that all of his potions had turned out ok so far. Of course, Benjamin and him had only worked on easy potions until then... Still, it was an improvement that no cauldron had exploded yet, and Neville was very happy about that.

"I'm glad we got a chance to meet again," Ginny was saying. "It's the first time that the three of us have the same training shift, and I really wanted to see how you were doing."

"Yes..." Cho said, "and it has allowed me to confirm something I've suspected from the beginning."

Ginny looked surprised. "That being?"

"Well... I don't know if I should really tell you..."

"What? No way! Now you have started and I won't let you leave me wondering. Spill!" Ginny laughed.

The truth was that Cho was more than willing to comply. "Remember when we had that little meeting with Mrs. Santos and she assigned us to our mentors?" Ginny nodded. "Well, I thought that Benjamin didn't look too happy with the last minute change, you know? He was supposed to be working with you instead of Neville, remember?"

"Oh, you noticed it too?" Ginny asked, her brow furrowed. "I thought he looked a little bit put off in knowing he would have to mentor Neville, but they seem to get along quite well, and you heard Neville, Benjamin is very patient with him."

Cho smiled amused. "Yeah, I realised too he doesn't apparently have a problem with Neville, so... I thought there could only be a reason why he didn't look happy..."

"Well?" Ginny asked, and sipped some more tea.

"I think he was upset that he wouldn't be working with _you_."

Ginny spluttered her tea almost at Cho's face. "What? Why would he have an interest in working with me?"

Cho was too amused to mind being spluttered at. She cleaned herself with her wand and then said: "Because he fancies you?"

"OH, COME ON!" Ginny shouted, and the people in the refectory turned around to look at her.

Both girls giggled for a moment and sipped some tea until everybody else went back to their meals.

"Remember the day we worked here as volunteers?" Cho said. "I noticed that Benjamin looked our way quite often. At the beginning, I thought he was just trying to check what we were doing without making us nervous, but I caught him a couple of times looking in your direction from very far away. I doubt he could see what you were doing with your wand from that far off."

Ginny reddened slightly. "Maybe he was just looking at something else. If he was that far away, he might have been checking another patient..."

"Ginny! Mark my words, _he fancies you_." Cho interrupted.

"Come on, Cho, you know it cannot be. He must be at least nineteen or twenty. Do you think he would notice a little girl like me?"

"Ginny, you are not any little girl, you are very pretty, and you look older too. And four or five years are not that much."

"Oh, I don't know... I really don't think he is interested in me... And I'm going out with Dean anyway!" Ginny added as an afterthought.

"Well, I'm sure in any case Benjamin doesn't know about Dean, and even if he did... would that be a real problem? Because excuse me if I'm mistaken, but I don't think you really care about Dean much, do you?"

Ginny remained silent and avoided Cho's gaze. "See?" The girl asked triumphantly, and suddenly both of them started laughing.

Their break was over soon afterwards and they had to go back to their respective floors, but Ginny couldn't concentrate much on her work after her little conversation with Cho.

"Hello! Hello! Earth calling Ginny! Earth calling Ginny! Anybody there?" Grace said amused. "What's wrong with you, dear? You looked perfectly normal before the break, but since then you seem to be very far away. Anything worrying you?"

"Oh, no, sorry, Grace. I... Well, Cho told me something and I can't take it out of my head. It's nothing important really... something about school," she lied.

"That's ok, we all have a weird day now and then. We need to go now and check on Mr. Marple, though, so try to stay focused, ok?"

Ginny nodded, a little bit ashamed of being caught daydreaming like that, and all because of Cho's suspicion! She didn't even have a proof that Benjamin was interested in her, although she had to admit she didn't dislike the idea. 'Ok, Ginny,' she said to herself, 'time to focus on work,' and she followed Ms. Guillaume out of her office.

***

Although it was already quite late, Ron and Hermione were still busy trying to catch some pixies that had managed to get into the house, nobody really knew how.

"Got you!" Ron cried, as he threw himself at a scurrying little devil trying to hide under the table.

"Oh, thanks Merlin!" Hermione exclaimed, "that was the last one! I'm aching all over!" The pixies had been giving them hell the whole day.

Ron stood, holding the pixie with both hands and trying very hard to control himself and not strangle it when the insolent creature made disgusting faces at him. He threw him in the enchanted box where his companions were waiting, and then Hermione put again a blocking spell on the box and sealed it. After that, she let herself fall on the old sofa with a deep sigh and closed her eyes. "I'm exhausted!" She complained once more.

Ron joined her, he was tired too, but hunting down the pixies had been really fun, specially when one of them bit Hermione's nose. He looked at the place were the pixie had bitten her and smiled to himself, but then his smile faded as he looked at Hermione's placid face, her long curly eyelashes, her thick lips, her lovely hair... His heart started beating wildly in his chest as it had been doing for some time now every time he looked at Hermione when she wouldn't notice. The other times he hadn't been so close to her, though, and now he found it very difficult to control himself. Slowly, he tilted his head over hers, and before he realised what he was doing, he had kissed her lips.

Hermione opened her eyes in surprise and straightened so suddenly that she hit Ron's head. "Ouch!" They both exclaimed, and rubbed their heads.

"Sorry!" Hermione said very low. Both of them were as red as tomatoes, but they both knew it had nothing to do with their little accident. They chanced a furtive look at each other.

Finally Ron took a deep breath and said, "Hermione..."

"Yes?" She inquired, facing him now.

"I... I... I..." Hermione looked expectantly at Ron. "I like you," he suddenly managed.

Hermione turned even redder, but smiled too. "I know, Ron, we've been friends for the last five years."

Ron sighed exasperatedly. "You know that's not what I mean," he protested.

"No?" Hermione mocked him and put up a surprised face.

"No!" Ron tried to sound annoyed, but he couldn't help a small smile. "I like you very much," he said.

"Very much?" Hermione asked.

Ron rolled his eyes and then straightened and took Hermione's hands in his. "Hermione, do you want to be my girlfriend?" He felt quite confident that she wouldn't reject him, but still, his stomach had jumped up to his throat.

"Yes," Hermione said, and giggled, avoiding Ron's face.

Ron relaxed visibly, and then smiled at her. Hermione smiled shyly back. After a moment of silence, Hermione said: "We should probably take the pixies downstairs so that Sirius can get rid of the box."

Ron didn't answer immediately, but when he did, he sounded much more confident than usually. He lifted Hermione's chin with his hand so that she would look him in the eye. "The pixies can wait until tomorrow," he said.

***

Harry rubbed his tired eyes and looked at the clock on the bedside table between Ron's bed and his -after the incident with the twin's sleeping bags, Mrs. Weasley had thought it would be better if they just went back to their respective rooms.

It was already one in the morning. Harry had been reading a book Professor Lupin had recommended him and had lost track of time. But what could Ron be doing? If Ron didn't come to sleep soon, he would go down and see if Hermione and him had any trouble with the pixies. They had been working on that the whole day, but Ron had said at dinner that they'd probably finish in a couple of hours. That had been six hours ago. What could they be possibly doing so late at night? Surely they could catch the remaining pixies in the morning, couldn't they?

The door of the room opened slowly and Harry put on his glasses again. Ron had his head just inside the door, but not the rest of his body. "Harry, are you awake?" The redhead whispered.

"Of course I am, can't you see the light is on?" Harry said a little bit annoyed. What was going on?

Ron then entered the room, followed by Hermione. They both looked a little bit nervous and seemed to be avoiding Harry's eyes.

"Hermione? Is there anything wrong? It's already one in the morning! Did the pixies give you a lot of trouble?"

"No, not really," she said, and looked sideways at Ron. Harry followed her gaze.

"Harry," Ron said, "there's something we need to tell you." He seemed to be having some difficulty speaking. Harry was starting to get nervous.

"What is it? Has something happened? Is anybody hurt?"

"No, no, it's not that," Ron said, and Hermione shook her head too. "It's that... well..." He turned to Hermione and took her hand in his, and they both looked again at Harry, who was starting to understand what was going on and couldn't hide a smile. "Harry... Hermione and I are going out together." There, it had been said, and suddenly Hermione and Ron felt a lot better.

Harry jumped from the bed to hug them. "About time!" He exclaimed.

"What do you mean?" Both Ron and Hermione asked nonplussed.

Harry rolled his eyes. "Forget it, ok? Merlin, am I glad!" He said, grinning from ear to ear.

Hermione and Ron smiled back, feeling much more relaxed now.

"Harry," she said, "we want you to know this changes absolutely nothing, you know? We are still friends, the three of us. We don't want you to feel left out just because Ron and I are together, ok?"

Harry looked at them both with disbelief in his face. "Don't tell me you were worried I would get angry?"

Hermione and Ron nodded awkwardly.

"No way!" Harry laughed. "I had been thinking that if non of you made a move this summer, the moment we went back to Hogwarts I would lock you in one of Filch's broom cupboards and wouldn't let you out until you had finally talked about this." He said, laughing even harder.

Hermione and Ron wondered for a moment if maybe Harry was a real seer, but didn't comment on that.

"I'd better be going now," Hermione said, "it's very late."

"Yeah," Harry said, "and Ginny must be almost here, and you probably want to tell her, don't you?"

Hermione just smiled. She knew she wouldn't sleep much that night.

When she left, Ron changed into his pyjamas and jumped into his bed.

"So," Harry said, "did the pixies really give you a lot of work or were you... otherwise busy?"

Ron chuckled. "No, we had finished with the pixies around ten."

"What?" Harry almost shouted. "You have been snogging for three hours?"

"No!" Ron threw his pillow at Harry, but he caught it easily and went on laughing. "Well... part of the time," Ron said grinning, "but we talked a lot too, mostly about you, if you want to know." Harry raised his eyebrows in surprise. "We were worried you would think we couldn't go on being friends like before," Ron explained.

Harry shook his head, still smiling. "You know I'll always want to be your friend, Ron, yours and Hermione's." He said, and Ron looked very happy.

"Now..." Harry said in a conspiratorial tone, "tell me, _how_ _was_ _it_?"

***

Ginny sat patiently in St. Mungo's reception area, making a list of the things she wanted to buy with her first wage. She had the intention of giving half of it to her mother, spare some galleons and then spend the rest in small presents for everybody at home, Harry and Hermione included. She was biting her quill lost in thought when Neville approached her.

"Ginny? What are you doing here?"

"I got an owl from my father. He's still busy at work, and told me to wait for him until he comes and picks me up."

"Your father is still in the Ministry? But it's half past one in the morning!"

"Yeah, but they have been very busy since the Ministry finally acknowledged Voldemort's return. I've told him many times he doesn't need to bring me here and then pick me up everyday, but he won't listen to me."

"Well, I don't think you should walk alone either," Neville said. "It's different in my case, I live a couple of streets away, but you..."

"Yeah..." Ginny said noncommittally. Neville didn't know she was living at the Headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix, that were in London, not that far away from St. Mungo's itself. "Why are you still here?" Ginny tried to change the subject.

"Oh, we were just finishing a potion, and I wanted to see the result. It was ok," Neville said smiling.

"Of course it was!" Ginny exclaimed. "I told you, everything you need is a little bit of confidence in yourself."

"You're probably right," Neville said shrugging. "Benjamin says I've improved a lot in only a few days. Maybe Professor Snape won't recognise me when we go back to school."

"You are going to take Potions? I thought you would drop the subject!"

"Well, I don't think Professor Snape will let me be in his classes, I'm not sure I passed my Potions OWL, and he said he didn't accept students with less than 'Outstanding', but if I want to be a healer I definitely need to take Potions, so I was thinking in begging him to let me join the classes, although only as a listener. That way I won't endanger everybody with my disastrous mixtures."

Ginny didn't know what to say. She didn't like Professor Snape in class either, although she respected him a lot, specially since he had helped her family against the Death Eaters, but Neville had a point, she should probably work harder in Potions as well if she wanted to get an 'Outstanding' in her OWLs next year. She definitely wanted to become a healer, and potions were very important in her profession.

"Still here?"

They both turned to see Benjamin approach them.

"Ginny has to wait for her father to pick her up," Neville said, and Ginny felt herself going red. Now Benjamin would think she was only a little girl who couldn't even go home alone. She looked at him and couldn't suppress the thought that he looked very well in his muggle clothes: jeans and a loose white shirt with the sleeves rolled up his arms.

Ginny was very angry for a moment, both at herself and at Cho. Now she couldn't look at Benjamin without turning red and wondering if he really fancied her or not. And what did it matter anyway? In any case the boy was sure to change his mind after Neville had informed him she had to wait for daddy, and specially after seeing her wearing the same old robes for the fourth time in two weeks.

Meanwhile, Benjamin looked lost in thought for a moment. To Ginny's surprise, he finally said: "You're staying at the Blacks', aren't you?"

Ginny's mouth hung open. How did he know? "Yes," she finally managed.

"I'm going that way. I could take you home, and so you wouldn't need to wait for your father."

Ginny went absolutely scarlet now. "Er... I don't know... My father might be already on his way..."

"Why don't you send him an owl to make sure?" Neville offered. Ginny didn't know if she wanted to kill him or kiss him. Both things looked very tempting right now.

"But then Benjamin would have to wait until we got my father's answer, and I'm sure he must be tired..." she tried to protest.

"The Ministry is very close to St. Mungo's, I'm sure the owl will be back in a moment," Benjamin said. "I'm not that tired anyway, I'm used to changing shifts pretty often."

Ginny couldn't find any more excuses, so she wrote to her father, and Mr. Weasly answered immediately thanking Benjamin for his kindness. He really couldn't tell when he would finish at work, and he was sorry to have Ginny waiting for him so late at night. If it really wasn't much trouble for Benjamin, he would be very grateful if he really could accompany Ginny home.

That settled, Ginny wrote another short note to her father to tell him Benjamin would be taking her home then, and the three of them left.

When they were at the door, Benjamin told them to wait for him for a second while he went for the car. When he came back, Neville ogled at the car, although it wasn't really spectacular by muggle standards. "Wow! I've never been inside of one!" He said delighted.

Benjamin laughed at their obvious interest. "It's very old really, I bought it second hand. It helps me move around muggle London without arousing the neighbours' suspicions, you know? And then London is a very crowded city, it's difficult to find a spot to apparate to without being seen by muggles." While he spoke, he stepped outside the car and opened the side door for Ginny. She smiled at him shyly and sat. The car had looked quite big from the outside, but from the inside it was much smaller than his father's old Ford Anglia. Of course, she didn't know his father had made some small changes in the Ford Anglia with his wand.

They were at Neville's house soon enough. It was really close, but Neville was thankful for the ride anyway. Maybe he could buy a muggle car too when he was older, it looked much easier than apparating.

When they were alone, Ginny asked Benjamin how did he know that she was staying at Black Manor.

"Oh, I've got some contacts, you know?" He said smiling.

"Who?" Ginny asked.

Benjamin laughed at her straightforwardness. "Well, some friends of mine visited the house a couple of days ago..."

"Who?" Ginny insisted.

Benjamin laughed some more. "Ok, I'll tell you, but don't tell anyone, right?" Ginny nodded. "I happen to know some of the fuocciris that went to Black Manor the other day."

"Of course!" Ginny could have hit herself. "You know the fuocciris that saved my brother's life, don't you? Because they are friends of Sha-adi, and she is your sister."

Benjamin nodded. "Right. I've known Yamiko and Samako since I was a child. They are friends of my sisters."

"You've got more than one sister?"

"Yes, two. They are both older than me. Sha-adi is twenty-two, and Amanda is almost thirty. When my mother died, Amanda took care of us. So she's more like a mother to me and not a sister really."

"You get on well with them?"

"Oh, yes! I used to live with them and some other friends until some weeks ago. But then... well, they had to move, and I didn't want to remain alone in the flat, so I rented a small room here in London. It's very expensive, but I don't need to apparate every day to go to work, and I like London very much."

A sudden idea struck Ginny. "Black Manor is protected by a Secret Keeper. How will you find it?"

"I won't," Benjamin admitted. "I know it's in Grimmauld Place, but don't know exactly where. You tell me when we are close and I'll drop you. Then I can wait in the car until you go into the house."

Ginny nodded thoughtfully. She wasn't sure if this had been a good idea after all. No one was supposed to know where Headquarters was... but then she shook herself. Benjamin was perfectly reliable. He had helped her family and he was a healer, and she doubted very much a Death Eater would ever feel inclined to heal people and save lives.

While she thought, Benjamin's brain was reeling too. He looked sideways at Ginny and seemed to make up his mind. "You've changed a lot," he finally said, in a casual tone.

That took Ginny out of her musings. "Changed?"

"Well, since last time I saw you. I remember when Percy made you drink that Pepper-Up Potion and you looked like you were really on fire." He said jokingly.

"Oh." Ginny didn't know what to say. It was a little bit mortifying that Benjamin would remember _that_, she was sure she had looked absolutely ugly with smoke coming out of her ears. Well, who wouldn't?

"I didn't recognise you at first when I saw you in St. Mungo's, you know? The day of the attacks. But I was sure the Weasleys had no other sisters, just you, and when I looked at you again, you didn't look really different to me anymore, just more... grown up."

Ginny was staring at the car ahead of them, trying to hide her nervousness. "Well," she finally said, "you left school some time ago..."

"Yes, two years already. Time flies!" Benjamin joked.

"And have you been working as a healer ever since?" Ginny didn't know why, but she felt she needed to change the subject.

Benjamin laughed. "Yes, I have." Ginny was going to ask him if he really liked it, but Benjamin wasn't going to give up on the previous subject so fast, so before she could speak again he said:

"Yes, yes... You've turned out a very beautiful girl in the last two years. Who would have thought so, so small as you were back then." He looked at her out of the corner of his eye, Ginny's face was almost as red as her beautiful hair, and she looked tongue-tied. "I'm sure you are breaking a lot of hearts at Hogwarts, am I right?" Benjamin asked.

"No, no," Ginny muttered, and couldn't say anything else.

"Do you have a boyfriend?" The boy asked.

"No," Ginny said, and was amazed at her own cheek.

"Ever had one?" Benjamin asked.

"Well, I went out with a Ravenclaw a couple of times last year." It had been considerably more than a couple of times, but Ginny thought Benjamin didn't really need to know all the details.

"A Ravenclaw!" Benjamin exclaimed. "Of course, you are a Gryffindor, aren't you?"

Ginny relaxed visibly, and answered him with a very proud 'Yes.'

"I suppose Slytherin boys don't stand a chance with you then?"

"No!" Ginny almost shouted before she could check herself, and immediately felt the overwhelming need of slapping herself. How could she be so silly? Benjamin was a Slytherin!

Benjamin whistled. "Merlin! Aren't I lucky?" He said when he stopped in the next red traffic light, looking at Ginny to weight her reaction. She went on staring in front of her, though, and didn't seem to be going to talk any time soon, so he decided he could as well be hung for a dragon as for an egg. "Yes, lucky indeed, because since I finished school, I'm not a Slytherin any more, strictly speaking, I mean."

Ginny chanced a sideways look at him and was distressed to see he was smiling mischievously at her. The traffic light changed to green, and Benjamin concentrated on the road once more. He turned left and stopped the car. "Grimmauld Place!" He announced. "Where to, now?"

"It's just a couple of houses ahead," Ginny almost whispered. She felt like crying. Not that she was really interested in Benjamin, she hadn't given him a second thought until Cho mentioned him during dinner, but she had to admit he was very handsome, and nice too, and certainly clever. And he had really behaved as if he was interested in her, and she had spoiled it all.

Benjamin drove a little bit further down the street and then stopped again. "Here?" He asked.

"Yes, perfect, thank you," Ginny muttered without looking at him, and turned to try and open the car door, but she realised she didn't know how to open it.

"Here," Benjamin said, and she almost fainted when his hand barely touched her arm before going to the door handle. He didn't open the door, though, just kept his hand on the handle.

Ginny turned a bit. Benjamin's face was really close to hers, and for a moment she forgot about anything else as she looked into his almond-shaped blue eyes.

"You have free tomorrow, am I right?" He asked.

Ginny nodded, she was sure she wouldn't be able to utter a single word.

"Ever been to the muggle cinema?"

Ginny's heart was in her throat. She shook her head.

"Would you like to go? With me?" Benjamin asked.

Ginny tried very hard not to jump and put her arms around his neck. After behaving like a silly girl, he was still asking her to go to the muggle cinema with him! Ginny wasn't sure what a cinema was, but she would have gone with Benjamin to a torture museum if she had to. She cleared her throat and even managed a shy smile before saying: "Ok."

Benjamin smiled.

Ginny thought he had the most beautiful smile in the world.

"I'll pick you up here at four. Maybe we can go to a fast food restaurant or something after the film if you want to." 

"Ok," was all that Ginny was able to say, but then she suddenly realised maybe meeting in front of Sirius' house wasn't very clever. Her mother could see her, and she had no intention of telling her, in case she insisted on one of her older brothers joining them. Ginny wasn't sure her mother would approve of her date. "Just wait for me around the corner, ok?"

Benjamin nodded. "Ok," he said. "Good night!" And he opened the door for her.

"Good night!" Ginny answered with a smile, and stepped out of the car. She walked to where she knew Black Manor was, and the house suddenly appeared out of nowhere. She was very tempted to turn. She was sure Benjamin was still looking at her, making sure she was safe inside. She could feel his eyes on her.

"GINNY!"

Ginny jumped and whirled on her feet. Benjamin was driving his car straight at her! Incapable of moving, she screamed. She screamed as she had never done before.

*****

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Thanks for the reviews!

Thanks all for reading and reviewing!

Hehehehe... ::evil grin::

Virtual chocolate frogs for **hermionegreen**, because she guessed Benjamin was interested in Ginny. Congratulations!

What do you think? Is Benjamin evil or not? Does he really care for Ginny or did he only want to use her to know where Black Manor was?

I guess there's no need to tell you in the following chapter there will be some action again... ;-)

And let me know what do you think of Ron's declaration! :D

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Kadi Rilla Wholi: I'm glad you liked my version of Draco and Narcissa. We'll go back to what happens in Malfoy Manor after some more chapters. Let's say that for now they are just enjoying themselves a bit. ;-)

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angel6-101: Thanks a lot for your review! Sandrine and the other girls were already in my head before reading OotP. I had been thinking for a while that there are certainly too many single _eligible_ men in the HP series, and they needed some female company. I had some ideas of how they could meet, but I didn't really like any of them. Thus, it wasn't until I read OotP that I found the way to link them to Rowling's characters. I hope you liked this chapter too.

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hermionegreen: I'm not sure Narcissa would approve of Sirius as Amanda's husband... Imagine their family dinners! Draco and Harry would both be there too... :D You were right about Benjamin! Well done!

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Starfire: Thanks for reviewing again! It's really encouraging to know people are reading my story. As I was telling **angel6-101**, the story was partly already in my head before reading OotP. I must admit Sirius has never been my favourite character -although I like him very much, I've always preferred Lupin-, but I didn't want him to die. It was such a shock! So his death was really the final push I needed to start writing this fic. I'm afraid I haven't read _Purpose_. I'm a little bit dejected that you find my fic similar to another one, I really thought my idea was quite original -not very modest, I know. :-( Well, I guess it's really difficult to come up with a really new idea in the HP fandom. When I checked FanFiction.net this morning, there were already 95321 fics registered! Some fics are bound to be similar in one way or another, specially as the main characters are probably gonna be the same. I think I will not read it just yet, because if it's similar to my fic, it might influence me somehow. And if it's _really_ similar, I might just get depressed! I'll read it when I finish _Finding Allies_, though, thanks for the recommendation. ;-)

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Lily Skylo: Hi! I'm glad you liked Draco. I hope Amanda will be successful too, but it's going to be a difficult task, we'll see... You are right about Sirius and Amanda, maybe Sirius is not ready to accept the fact that Amanda _likes_ his cousin Narcissa. Sometimes, ignorance can be bliss. :D


	18. The Dansarine And The Werewolf

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Disclaimer: The characters that look familiar to you belong to J. K. Rowling. The ones you cannot find in any of her books are mine. I don't intend to make any money out of this. I'm just having some fun.

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The Dansarine And The Werewolf

The car whirled very fast and stopped barely inches from Ginny, the driver's door just in front of her.

"DEATH EATERS, GET DOWN!" Benjamin shouted, and then Ginny looked around and saw the hooded figures running at them from every direction with their wands out.

She screamed once more and took her wand out. Benjamin stepped out of the car with his wand ready and put himself in front of her, protecting her with his body. "Into the house, run!"

She didn't need telling twice. Before she could utter the spells to put down the wards on the house, she saw the door open and Sirius stepping aside with his wand ready.

"GET INSIDE, NOW!" He roared.

She run inside, Benjamin was behind her. She was barely aware of Sirius closing the door and putting up the wards again just in time. The first spells hit the facade of the house.

"Wake the others!" Sirius ordered Ginny, and then went to the window on the left, while Benjamin moved to the window on the right.

Ginny didn't need to wake anybody. If her screams, Sirius' shouts and the sound of the Death Eeaters' hexes hitting the house hadn't awoken them already, the explosion of Benjamin's car being blasted out of the way by Voldemort's followers definitely did the trick. The corridors of the house were immediately full of people with sleepy faces and wands at the ready.

***

Harry and Ron had been still awake, chatting about girls in their room, and so they looked quite awake. Sirius, Percy, Bill, Charlie, Tonks and Mundungus had been on guard on the different floors of the house and thus they looked at least presentable, but the rest of them were quite a sight.

Everybody was wearing their pyjamas or nightdresses. Mrs. Weasley came out of her room wearing a very frayed pink night-dress and hair-curlers. The twins were wearing identical pyjamas, one lime green, the other canary yellow. Schacklebolt was wearing only black shorts, Lupin, pyjama trousers. Moody looked absolutely scary in his very long white nightgown and a nightcap, but the scariest sight inside Black Manor at that moment, without a trace of doubt, was Petunia Dursley. Ron, who had run with Harry on his wake to the rooms where the Grangers and the Dursleys were sleeping, was the first to spot her.

"Merlin! Harry, someone has cursed your aunt!" Ron shouted, not even turning. "Don't worry, Mrs. Dursley, we'll find a countercurse, I'll bring my mum, don't panic." Petunia didn't even blink.

The twins and Hermione, who had heard Ron's shouts, ran to his aid too. Hermione didn't understand what was all the noise about, but the twins looked terrorised at Mrs. Dursley. How could someone be so cruel as to disfigure her face like that!

It was lucky perhaps that Harry stopped Ron in time, because Mrs. Weasley was surely much more useful fighting Death Eaters. "Ron, wait! It's ok, she hasn't been cursed, she is wearing a muggle beauty mask!"

"WHAT?" The Weasley boys were nonplussed. "Beauty mask? A Blast-Ended Skrewt looks _beautiful_ in comparison to her!"

Petunia Dursley didn't know what a Blast-Ended _Sprew_ was, but she could tell by their tone that it wasn't a beautiful thing. She didn't give it a second thought anyway before running back into the room to clean her face. With all the shouting, she had completely forgotten that she was wearing her favourite dewrinkling rejuvenating cleansing relaxing revitalising mask, very effective, but with a not very agreeable smell and a slightly sick green colour.

Once over the very first shocking impression, Ron, Hermione and Harry went downstairs to join the others while the twins stayed with the Dursleys and the Grangers -all carrying heavy books and pots. Ron was relieved to see that Mrs. Granger's face looked perfectly normal and clean, for a moment he had been afraid all muggle women used those kind of masks. He cared a lot for Hermione, but he didn't think he would be able to stay in the same room as her while she had something like that on her face.

***

Harry didn't know how long they had been sending and avoiding hexes, but he felt exhausted. He chanced a look at the clock: 3 a.m. They had been fighting for a while. Tonks had received a small cut in her left cheek when the glass of a window went flying in every direction, and Percy had hurt himself in throwing himself to the floor to avoid a blue light, but apart from that, there were no injured and the Death Eaters didn't seem to be any closer to victory.

All of a sudden, there was a deadly silence and the flashes of light stopped. Benjamin and Shacklebolt chanced a look outside the windows.

"They are gone," Shacklebolt said, "there is nobody out there."

For some reason, this news, instead of making them happy, only worried them more. Why would the Death Eaters leave like that. It's true they didn't seem to be gaining anything by attacking them from the outside, but still they must knew they were all trapped inside the house, and Harry was with them. It was strange that they would give up like that.

"I don't like it," Moody growled. "They didn't fight hard enough. They didn't even try to get into the house. What is going on?"

"Maybe they are trying to distract us from something else," Lupin said.

***

Penelope was in the kitchen, trying to activate the Floo network without much success, when she heard a popping noise to her right. She was kneeling in front of the grate, and the Death Eater hadn't seen her. She turned very slowly, pointed her wand at the dark figure and stunned it. "THE ANTI-APPARATING WARD IS DOWN!" She shouted right afterwards. For a moment everybody in the house panicked and nobody dared to move, listening intently, trying to hear the familiar popping noises -which was very difficult with Mrs. Black's portrait screaming at the top of her lungs- and guess from which direction would the curses be coming. Sirius and Moody were trying to repair the anti-apparating ward, but the Death Eaters had obviously managed to destroy it completely, and they didn't have time to put a whole new one up.

And then they came. One, two... ten... twenty... Death Eaters started to appear out of nowhere. Chaos ensued. The members of the Order were trapped. They could have disapparated, but the kids and the muggles in the house couldn't, and they wouldn't leave them alone.

Everybody tried to get some cover, behind the sofas, on the corner between the huge library and the wall, behind chairs, under the table... The lights had been off all of the time, save the one in the kitchen, which Penelope had extinguished immediately after the first Death Eater apparated there. Darkness would surely give them some cover, but not much, just until the Death Eaters' eyes would get used to it. And on the other hand, darkness was also a disadvantage, because they couldn't see each other very well. Harry thought it was like a sick game of hide and seek. The ones who had hidden better would live longer, the others would die sooner. He wasn't sure what would be worse, dying first or being the last and having to witness how his friends died one by one.

The Death Eaters didn't move either. They were waiting for their preys to make a wrong move, a noise. With their black cloaks, they blended perfectly with the darkness in the house. Why risk a move when panic would force their enemies to make silly mistakes?

Harry could see Ron from where he was hiding, behind a sofa. A right of light coming in through one of the windows rested on his face. Harry thought the Death Eaters would catch him very soon. Ron looked his way and smiled at him reassuringly. Harry had the feeling he knew what his friend was thinking: This was it, they were going to die, but he wasn't scared at all, just sad about all the things he would surely miss. Harry mouthed: "My Firebolt is upstairs." Ron obviously understood him, because his eyes rounded. His broom was upstairs too, and he was sure Ginny and the twins had theirs too, maybe even Percy. He thought there were probably brooms enough to carry the Dursleys, the Grangers, Hermione, Ginny, Harry and him. The rest of them could disapparate. If they could only get their brooms...

***

Upstairs, Fred and George had had the same idea. They didn't know what was going on, but they had heard Penelope's warning very clearly a few moments ago, and since then nothing, just silence. The Death Eaters probably didn't know they were upstairs. They opened the room of the door where they were hiding with the Dursleys and the Grangers and raised their wands.

"Accio broom!" They whispered. A few seconds afterwards, their brooms were there, hovering ready to be mounted. Fred went back to the muggles:

"We are going to try to get the others. When they come, be ready to mount a broom, it might be your only way out. And make no noise." He was speaking very slowly and very low. Everybody nodded slowly, although Vernon Dursley had looked for a moment as if he was going to protest at the idea of mounting a broomstick.

Meanwhile, George had had another idea and had summoned their Beater clubs. Fred's eyes went round and he gave his twin the thumbs up. Slowly, both boys mounted their respective brooms, took a club with one hand and their wand firmly in the other, and looked at each other for what might very well be the last time. Fred left first. George right behind him. They flew downstairs silently, although they had no idea what they would find there. Fred stopped in mid-air an the beginning of the stairs, hiding a little behind the wall, and took a peek at the room. He could see people standing in the middle of the room, people wearing cloaks, Death Eaters. He looked to his right and saw Ginny hurled behind a chair, the moon was falling on her red hair, it was a miracle that the Death Eaters hadn't spotted her yet. She looked at her brother, saw the broom and looked at him intently to make him understand that she had got the idea. Fred raised three fingers at her, and then put them down one by one. One, two, three! Fred threw himself at the unsuspecting Death Eaters and started moving his club around, not caring if he hit heads or furniture. George followed. Ginny took advantage of the chaos to summon her broom, and Harry and Ron did the same.

The Death Eaters, taken by surprise, didn't know what was attacking them. Was it a monster, was it human? Why could it fly?

The adults in the room didn't loose time. They threw hexes at the Death Eaters without even taking aim, the trick was to attack them from so many angles that they couldn't react in time.

A big hand shot in the air and caught Fred's left arm. He fell from his broom and fought frantically against another hand on his throat, strangling him. Another hand grabbed George's broom and made him fall too, but he scurried away in the confusion and hid as well as he could. After that, they heard a terrible voice: "Escudare!"

"DON'T SHOOT!" Professor Lupin cried from somewhere to Harry's left. Apparently, not soon enough. Before Lupin could warn them, some of them had sent some hexes flying to the Death Eaters which had hit their shield and shot in another direction. A couple of people fell to the ground, Harry couldn't see who.

"DO NOTHING!" Moody roared.

The same horrible voice said: "Lumos!" The room filled with a light so bright that blinded them all for a moment. "Incendio!" Ron, Ginny and Harry's brooms, which had been hovering at their sides, burst into flames.

When his eyes finally adjusted to the light, Harry didn't like what he was seeing: twelve Death Eaters or more were standing together in the centre of the room, covering each other's backs and surrounded by a misty light. Dispersed through the room there were at least thirty Death Eaters more, most of them in pairs, back to back. They were all surrounded by the misty light too.

Fred was panting on the floor, close to the inner circle of Death Eaters. Hermione's nose was bleeding. Remus sported a burn in his right arm and Ron and his mother were lying on the floor, unconscious. Harry realised he had blood running down his face too. He couldn't see the others from where he was.

Now there was light, there was really no point in hiding. The Death Eaters were all standing and could see them perfectly well. The furniture had been protection enough in the darkness, but now it wasn't any more.

The same voice who had spoken before started crying out curses, and Harry saw a tall man in the centre of the inner circle point his wand at someone. Lupin raised behind him, sent a hex to the inner circle and kneeled very fast. It was no use, his spell rebounded and hit a candelabra. The Death Eaters laughed. They had them. They couldn't escape. The Death Eater who seemed to be in charge turned his attention to Lupin and then lifted his mask. Remus stood slowly and stared at him, his wand pointed at the man.

"Lestrange, you're surrounded by aurors, surrender your wand," he said calmly.

Lestrange! So this was Bellatrix's husband! The man laughed at Remus, amused at the man's silly bravery. The other Death Eaters didn't look so happy though, they seemed to think the thin man with the ugly scar on his abdomen could be telling the truth.

"Crucio!" Lestrange said, pointing his wand at Lupin. The werewolf just moved to the side and avoided the hex.

"Hmmm, good reflexes!" Lestrange said impressed.

"Good body too!" A female voice said from Lestrange's right.

"Maybe you can have him for your own amusement when the Master finishes with him, Rebecca," Lestrange paused. "That is, if he survives his wrath. CRUCIO!"

Lupin kneeled and stood again.

Harry was wondering what was Lupin playing at, but then he realised. He was trying to distract Lestrange because he had been the one to cast the shielding spell on all the Death Eaters. If he got interested enough in catching Lupin and lost concentration, the shield would waver, and then they could hit the Death Eaters. He could see Sirius now, moving surreptitiously in his direction. Unluckily, he wasn't the only one to spot his godfather.

"Where do you think you are going?" Another Death Eater said, and pointed his wand at Sirius. The Animagus avoided the curse and then stood too, slowly, but with his wand ready.

"Where is my dear cousin Bella, enjoying herself with your Master while you endanger yourself for him?"

Sirius' question unhinged Lestrange for various reasons, first of all, because of the obvious insult of suggesting her wife was untruthful to him, and secondly because he thought Sirius Black was dead. It was only a second of hesitation, but it was enough. The shield wavered, and when it did curses went flying in every direction. Five Death Eaters in the inner circle and some more around the room fell before Lestrange recovered his concentration and strengthened the shield again.

"Enough talking I think. You are very lucky that the Master has insisted that he wanted you all alive and, if possible, able." He raised his wand, but was interrupted by the noise of someone thundering down the stairs. To everybody's astonishment, Vernon Dursley came into the room charging like a bull. He threw himself at the inner circle of Death Eaters -who didn't even blink-, and rebounded so hard that he flew backwards some feet and fell with a sick crash on Mrs. Black's portrait, destroying it completely.

The Death Eaters laughed heartily at the amusing show.

"Well," Lestrange finally said, "maybe we don't need to keep the muggles alive." There was a murmur of excitement from his companions. "Not now, though, the Master is waiting." Then he turned his attention back to his 'prisoners': "I'm going to put you all on a very deep sleep, plagued with nightmares and bad memories, and when you waken, the worst of them all will have become true, and you'll be kneeling in front of my Master, ready to serve him, to kill Dumbledore for him so that he can finally conquer the wizarding world."

So that was the plan! Harry mind's was reeling. Could it be that Voldemort didn't know he was in the house? Could it be that for once he hadn't been after Harry, but after the Order? Maybe he thought that if he could put all of them under the Imperius curse, Dumbledore wouldn't be able to escape, because these were the people he trusted the most. And now it seemed Voldemort was getting two for the price of one, Dumbledore and himself.

"Let's see... who wants to be first?" Lestrange was really enjoying his sick game. "What about this pretty little girl here?" He said menacingly, looking at Ginny. He raised his wand at her. Ginny stood and looked at him defiantly.

"No!" Bill shouted, and stepped in front of her sister.

"How touching!" Lestrange mocked him, and the other Death Eaters laughed stupidly. "The older brother wants to go first. Very well then... "Somnium Infernis!"

A white light left Lestranger's wand and hit Bill squarely in the chest, in a pendant he was wearing, a small black pearly bottle. The chain broke and the bottle fell to the floor and opened, but didn't break. Bill stood there, apparently uninjured, looking as surprised as everyone else.

Then a beautiful sound started to fill the room. Harry thought for a moment it was like the phoenix's song, but then realised it wasn't, this song was even more beautiful. The tiny bottle started to glow. A woman's voice spoke, as if from very far away, in a foreign language, but somehow they could understand what she was saying:

"Cursed be the one who defies the power of the Guardians of the Fire. Now come and face your punishment, because you cannot run from it."

Nobody dared to move, not even blink. Lestranger's shield wavered and disappeared, but nobody cared, because they were all falling under the spell of the voices singing in their heads. Those beautiful voices.

Suddenly, a soft wind started to flow out of the bottle, and then started getting stronger and stronger, whirling around the room faster and faster. Things started to fly: books, candles, pictures; then bigger objects, like furniture; then people: Vernon Dursley's unconscious body, Mrs. Weasley and Ron, both unconscious too. It was as if a hurricane was blowing inside the house.

"Abort the mission!" Lestrange shouted panicked. The Death Eaters started to disapparate, facing Voldemort's wrath was bad, but who knew how bad could be facing this unknown force?

The aurors were trying to fight the irresistible force of the wind too. It was as if they were moving in slow motion. Sirius tried to reach Harry with the utmost effort and made him lay on the floor. Harry was trying to resist the wind, but he was so thin that he didn't stand a chance. His wand slipped from his fingers and Harry tried to grab it. That was a mistake, and he was soon floating around the room. Sirius turned into Padfoot and grabbed the edge of Harry's pyjamas with his teeth, but the cloth tore, and then the wind caught the black dog too.

After what felt like an eternity, the spiralling stopped, but the wind was still very strong. They were all floating in mid-air. Harry could see Ginny holding to Bill, Hermione holding to Moody's flesh leg, even Lestrange was floating without control, it seemed he hadn't been able to disapparate in time, and Tonks... Tonks was doing something very strange. It was as if she was trying to swim in mid-air and reach the bottle on the ground. She needn't have worried about it, because then the wind started to get back into the tiny bottle, taking everything inside it with him: books... furniture... people.

***

The sky was blue and clear. Harry was flying like a bird, feeling utterly happy. He could see a tiny house far away in the horizon. He didn't know why, but he had to get there. Suddenly a branch appeared out of nowhere and slapped him. Harry blinked and tried to cover his face. The branch hit him again, harder this time, and Harry finally opened his eyes.

"Aunt Petunia?"

Petunia Dursley was kneeling at his side and trying to waken him.

"What happened?" Harry asked.

"You ask _me_?" Aunt Petunia said in a disbelieving tone. "How am I supposed to know! There was a hurricane or something and we started to fly around the room where we were hiding. Then everything stopped as suddenly as it had started. We couldn't hear anything, so we decided to come downstairs, and we found everybody unconscious on the floor."

He looked around and remembered everything. He was lying on the floor, exactly where he had been hiding from the Death Eaters just a moment ago, before Lestrange had hit that mysterious little bottle and everything had started to spin out of control.

Harry looked around the room. Mrs. Granger was trying to awake her daughter, and Harry could see Dudley shaking his father and Mr. Granger slapping Bill -not so hard as Aunt Petunia had slapped him, though.

He stood and went over to one of the windows. Grimmauld Place had disappeared. They were in the middle of some fields, and Harry could see a small house not very far away, the house he had seen in his dream. It was probably noon already.

He turned and helped awake the others. Little by little, his friends returned to consciousness. They looked all very tired, but relaxed at the same time. Some of them were rubbing their bodies where they had hit something. Tonks and Shacklebolt were taking care of Ron, Mrs. Weasley and Vernon Dursley.

"Anybody knows what happened?" Lupin asked, rubbing his temple.

Nobody answered.

"Whatever it was," Sirius said, "I'm glad it happened. The Death Eaters have disappeared."

There was a murmur of agreement around the room.

Benjamin went to the window and smiled. "Who gave you that bottle, Bill?" He asked.

"The fuocciri who saved my life, why?"

Benjamin smiled again. "Just as I thought. That's her house." Everybody went to the window and looked at the house Harry had seen before.

"That's her house? How...?" Mundungus asked.

"Lestrange hit a fuocciri amulet. Bad for him. If you break a fuocciri amulet is bad enough in itself, but if you have sent a curse at it, you are doomed."

"But he escaped, didn't he?" Ginny asked. "He is not here any more, so he must have disapparated."

Benjamin bit his upper lip, lost in thought for a moment. "I don't know what happened to him, but you can be sure the curse will haunt him down. He is as well as dead."

Nobody felt sorry for him.

"I'll go and see if Yamiko is at home. Anybody wants to come?"

"I do," Ginny said.

"Me too," Hermione agreed.

Harry, Sirius and Moody joined them too. From the distance, they were quite a sight, because Moody, Harry and Hermione were still wearing their pyjamas and nightgowns.

Benjamin felt quite confident, he even put away his wand. The others didn't feel so sure yet. He knocked on the door.

"I'm in the backyard!" A voice called.

They walked around the house. Yamiko Sam stood there, surrounded by paint pots and canvases. She was wearing muggle clothes: tights and an old grey T-shirt quite dirty with paint strokes of every colour and also some fingerprints. Her hair was tied in a ponytail. She smiled at them and then hugged Benjamin.

"Hello, dear! Slept well?"

"Yeah," Benjamin said, not very convinced. "How much do you know about what has happened at Grimmauld Place tonight?"

"Well, not really much, just that someone attacked the house, probably Death Eaters, because I could feel a lot of dark magic in the air."

"You were there?" Harry asked.

"No, I was on my way. A friend of mine called me. Sandrine," she added for Benjamin's benefit, "she felt someone under her protection was in danger, but she was busy at the moment and couldn't go herself, so she asked me to go and help. And I already knew the house!" She smiled at them.

"That would be me," Sirius said.

"Pardon?" Yamiko asked.

"I mean the person under Sandrine's protection, I think it's me. She saved my life some weeks ago."

"Oooooh, so you are the _infamous_ Sirius Black?" She asked, shaking Sirius' hand.

"The one and only," Sirius joked.

"Pleased to meet you, Mr. Black, I'm Yamiko Sam. Sandrine and I have been friends for... well, a lot of years now. And these are?" She asked, looking at the rest of the committee.

"Alastor Moody, Ginny Weasley, Hermione Granger and Harry Potter," Sirius introduced them. To everybody's surprise, Yamiko didn't seem to recognise Harry's name, 'Weasley' sounded familiar to her, though.

"Ah! You must be related to Mrs. Weasley from The Burrow, am I right?"

"Yes," Ginny said reddening slightly, "she is my mother."

"I thought so," Yamiko said, and then she looked a little bit sheepishly. "Well, sorry about the mess, I was working a bit, but I guess it's time for a brake anyway. Why don't you take a seat while I go to the kitchen and fetch you some drinks and food?"

"Maybe we could have some explanations first," Moody growled.

Yamiko smiled at him. "I see... I'd rather wait until the others awake, though."

"They are already awake," Ginny said, "we didn't want to come all at once."

"Oh! Well, why don't you call them then so that they can join us?"

Moody nodded, and Harry and Hermione went in search of the rest. When they came back, the canvases had become chairs and Yamiko had put on a simple muggle-style flowered dress. She was coming out of a door in the back of the house, probably leading to the kitchen, and was carrying a try with cups and dishes on it. Everybody greeted her awkwardly and then took a chair. Yamiko did too, and then took a sip of her cup before smiling around.

"Welcome to the humble house of the Sams. I think we've all met before, at that very big house you just left," she pointed vaguely in the direction where Black Manor now stood. "And this is the third time I have the pleasure of seeing some of you," she smiled at Mrs. Weasley, "although I hope next time we meet won't be so stressful for a change."

A popping noise distracted them all.

"Albus!" Moddy growled.

Dumbledore walked swiftly to them with his wand in his hand and looking not very happy. When he surveyed the scene and saw everybody sitting comfortably around Yamiko, he relaxed visibly, though.

"Mr. Dumbledore! You come just in time, I was just starting to explain everything."

The old wizard nodded and approached Yamiko, who was now standing, her arm outstretched to shake the man's hand.

"Tea?"

"Yes, please," the Headmaster said, looking at his people. He seemed to be checking if there was anyone missing.

"As I was saying, I'm sorry we haven't met in more joyful circumstances." Yamiko cleared her throat. "Let's see, where do I start? Well, a friend of mine, called Sandrine, rescued Mr. Black here from the dead some time ago. Everybody knows that?" There was a general nod of assertion.

"Ok, right. In saving him, a very strong magical bond was created between herself and Mr. Black. This bond allows my friend to feel if Mr. Black here is in danger. A couple of hours ago, she started to feel the pull of the bond, but she couldn't very well run to Grimmauld Place at that moment, so she contacted me, to see if I could do her the favour of helping Mr. Black. I obviously assured her I would do everything in my power. I was still on my way, when I felt one of my amulets working. I had never given an amulet before to anybody until I had to heal Mr. Weasley some days ago," she smiled at Bill, who smiled back. "I didn't give the bottle to him as an amulet, only because he needed the medicine inside it, but as a dark spell hit the amulet, its magic turned on and the amulet tried to come back to its original owner: me."

Yamiko paused, thinking how much she really needed to explain, and then went on talking. "There are different kinds of amulets. That one is an apparitional one, which means, it moves something or someone from one place to another. I guess there was probably a lot of magic around the house, and that increased the reaction of the amulet, so instead of moving just something small, like a cup, or a dish, or the person wearing it, it took with him everything inside the house and even the house itself, and brought you all here, where I live. And that's basically all there's to tell." She paused and looked around. There were some lost faces. "Any questions?" She asked.

Hermione raised her hand shyly, as if she was in class. "If the amulet took everyone in the house here, what happened to the Death Eaters who were attacking us?"

"There was only one of them in the house when I went inside. I'm not sure about the rest, but they probably disapparated before the amulet's magic affected them. I knew the amulet would come back here, so I hurried back, and was already here when the house appeared out of nowhere. You were all unconscious, but it's better to leave the amulet's magic dissipate by itself, so I let you sleep. I only took one person, the Death Eater who had hit the amulet."

"How did you know it had been him and not someone else?" Bill interrupted.

"Well, you just know those things. I can't explain why, but there is a kind of connection between an amulet and the person who has wielded it in the fire. It's as if the amulet could speak, and it could tell me the name of the attacker."

"We heard a voice," Tonks said. "It was a woman's, and she said something about the guardians of the fire, or something like that."

Yamiko thought for a moment. "Fuocciris amulets are made in a special way. I think wizards usually take a magical object and that's it, but fuocciris amulets are not common objects at first. To make one, you have to go into the depths of the Mountain of Fire, were eternal flames dance night and day. There, you speak to the spirits of dead fuocciris -that's what the flames really are, you know, dead fuocciri- and ask them for something you wish. You must promise them something else in exchange, and if you keep your promise, they grant you your wish. Then, when you get out of the mountain, you search your pockets, and there it is: the amulet. That's how I got this little bottle I gave Mr. Weasley."

"And the guardians of the fire?" Tonks insisted.

"Oh, that would be the fuocciris. We are the Guardians of the Fire, because we can control it. When we die, our spirits turn into flames on the depths of the Mountain of Fire."

Everybody was hanging on Yamiko's every word.

"What about the Death Eater then?" Dumbledore asked.

"Oh, well, he had to be punished. The penalty for trying to destroy a fuocciri amulet is death." Yamiko turned a bit in her chair and waved a hand in the air. Suddenly, to their right, they could see the most extraordinary vision: an horde of small scarlet dragons that had been invisible before were tearing at something bloody on the floor. And then they saw it: an arm still clad in a dark sleeve. The dragons were eating Lestrange. Yamiko waved again her hand and the disturbing image disappeared. "I awoke him first, of course, so that he would have a chance to fight, my dragons enjoy chasing living preys much more than eating canned food, and they don't get many chances of hunting, so it's like a big party for them."

Percy excused himself and walked a little bit away, then they heard him retching. George and Mr. Granger joined him almost immediately.

Yamiko looked worried at them, and then at the rest of them. "Anybody else is feeling ill? Have you noticed if some pastries tasted bad?" She smelled the tea, and then waved her hand and all the food and drinks disappeared. "Sorry about that. It's almost lunch time anyway, so I'd better go and cook something. Feel free to have a look around." She went to the house, but stopped before going in. "Anything I can give you? Maybe some water?" She shouted at the three people who had felt ill. They shook their heads slowly. Yamiko bit her lower lip worried, wondering what could have made them feel bad. Maybe the sesame biscuits, she had bought them a week ago, although they usually halted for quite long... It didn't occur to her that someone could be upset after seeing some dragons eating another human being, not when that person deserved the punishment.

Everybody started commenting what had happened and looking at Dumbledore as if the old man would tell them he had expected something like this to happen all of the time, but the truth was the old wizard was as lost as the rest of them. He could understand that Sandrine had sensed Sirius was in danger. But why would she help him? Ok, not personally, but at least she had contacted a friend. And why would that friend risk her life and probably her position in her community by ignoring her Princess' 'neutrality decree'? They were all trying to find a reason to these incredible and lucky events when a female voice called, panting, from the other side of the house.

"Miko? Miko, can you open the door?"

The wizards and witches in the backyard looked at each other. What kind of magical people would be unable to open a door?

It seemed Yamiko could indeed opened the front door, because after a moment the backyard door opened too and two little boys came running out of it, one must have been around ten or eleven, the other one considerably younger. They stopped dead in their tracks when they saw they had visitors. The youngest one was the first one to react.

"Dogman! Dogman!" He shouted delighted, and run to Sirius.

Sirius immediately recognised the kids. It hadn't been so long since he had been in Sandrine's flat, looking after them. He kneeled and hugged Gao, laughing. Then he went over to the older kid, Yi, and shook his hand as if he was a very important person. The boy smiled shyly at him.

"Glad to see you again, Mr. Black."

"Oh, no, no, please, call me Sirius, ok?"

The boy grinned and nodded. At Gao's request, the wizard took his animagus form and jumped playfully around. Everybody laughed, specially Gao, who approached the dog and threw himself at its neck. They were thus enjoying themselves when the backyard door opened again and out came Yamiko followed by two girls some of them already knew: her younger sister Samako and their friend Sha-adi, the mermaid.

"What's going on?" Yamiko asked amused. "Oh, for all the Princesses! Where did that huge dog come from?" She said, approaching the animal and stroking his shiny fur and scratching his ears. "Who do you belong to, eh? Do you belong to Mr. Black?"

The dog barked, and then took a couple of steps back and turned back into a man. "Yeah, I guess you could say that," he said.

Yamiko was still kneeling where the dog had stood, and looked up at Sirius with obvious admiration. "Oh, you are an animagus! Impressive!"

"Thanks," Sirius said, shrugging and grinning from ear to ear.

Everybody was still laughing at Padfoot's antiques and Yamiko's surprise. Sirius offered his hand to Yamiko to help her stand and then approached the other two girls. He greeted Sha-adi first.

"Hi! Nice to see you again," he said.

"Sirius, I'm glad you are ok." Sha-adi said. "Yamiko was just telling us what happened and why your house is now in the Sams' garden."

Sirius passed his hand through his hair. "Yeah, it's a long story. I'm not sure I got it yet. I should probably learn something more about ashanriis. My life has been full of them lately, for good, of course." He turned then to the other girl. "And I think you are Samako, right? We've met before, but we haven't been introduced."

"Pleased to meet you, Mr. Black."

"Oh, please, call me Sirius. Here," he said, taking them by the arm, "let me introduce you to the rest of my friends. You too, Mrs. Sam."

"It's Miss!" Yamiko, Samako and Sha-adi shouted at the same time, and then burst out laughing.

Sirius looked a bit lost for a moment. Well, maybe Yi and Gao weren't Yamiko's children after all.

"Sorry, Miss Sam," he corrected himself.

"Yamiko or Miko will be fine. Some people call me Ya too."

Sirius smiled at her and then made the introductions. Even Percy, George and Mr. Granger seemed to have recovered enough to smile when their names where said.

After everybody had nodded or smiled in turn, there was an awkward silence, which Sha-adi finally interrupted.

"Were you having a pyjama party?" She asked, surveying the group of people and seeing most of them were wearing pyjamas or nightdresses. Embarrassment spread through their faces as fast as a rumour.

"Oh, don't worry, that's ok," Sha-adi said earnestly. The Sams tried very hard to disguise their laughter while they took a last appraising look at Lupin and Shacklebolt, who were the ones wearing less clothes and obviously with a better body -Moody's nightgown certainly didn't attract their attention much.

After that, Dumbledore agreed with Yamiko that he would go back to England, pick Mr. Weasley, who must be mad with worry, and then they would come back together. Meanwhile, everybody went back to Black Manor to shower and change themselves while the Sams and Sha-adi started preparing something to eat. The three girls were still talking animatedly about what had happened when Mrs. Weasley, Tonks, Mrs. Granger and Mrs. Dursley came back.

"We've come to help," Molly said.

"Oh, you don't need to, why don't you go and rest. We can do it." Yamiko protested.

"No, no, no way," Molly said.

"It's the least we can do," Mrs. Granger begged, "after everything you've done for us. And we are a lot too. If we have to pay something for the food..."

"Oh, no-no-no-no-no!" Yamiko cut her off. "It's really no problem. We always have plenty of food in the house. You never know when someone could turn up, and we live far away from the village. We are going to cook something simple, anyway, only a lot of quantity, so that everybody has enough to eat."

"In fact, we just came from the village market," Samako added, "so we have food now for a whole army."

"At least... let us help you, please," Petunia said, her voice wavering a bit.

The three ashanriis looked at each other, and finally Yamiko nodded. "Very well."

None of them really worked much, though. The vegetables were cutting themselves, the rice and the noodles were ready to jump into the pots at the very last minute, the pork and the chicken pieces were jumping from the salt jar straight into the pan filled with oil, and the ducks were obligingly turning in the grate from one side to the other. The kitchen was soon filled with a delicious smell. While they checked that everything was going on as expected, the women chatted amiably and drank some French wine -Sandrine's contribution.

Mrs. Weasley chatted animatedly with Yamiko about cooking and children, Tonks, Sha-adi and Samako were having a very heated conversation about hair colours, and Mrs. Granger and Mrs. Dursley were talking quietly in a corner.

"I could get used to this," Mrs. Granger was saying, eyeing the food with wonder while it prepared itself. Petunia just laughed uncompromisingly. She still didn't feel too comfortable around magic.

***

They were all seated around a very big table when Dumbledore came back, accompanied by Mr. Weasley, who looked absolutely harassed. He embraced all of his kids, but specially Ginny, since she had been the one in greatest danger. Then thanked Yamiko for everything with tears in his eyes. Yamiko started crying too, she couldn't stand seeing people cry, even though in Arthur's case it was out of happiness. It took the rest some time to comfort them.

They were enjoying their desserts when they heard a key scratching in the keyhole of the front door. After a moment, a small blonde girl came into the spacious kitchen.

"Hi! Oh, what's this, you are having a party without me?" The girl asked in mock outrage while she let fall some grocery bags on a corner of the floor.

Yi and Gao run to kiss Sandrine, and then took her by the hands to a chair that had appeared automatically out of nowhere. Before sitting, though, Sandrine kissed the other ashanriis and Benjamin. Then she went to Sirius and, to everybody's surprise, kissed his cheek too.

"Ah! How nice! Just in time for dessert!" She said, looking at their dishes.

"Don't you dare touch a thing!" Yamiko warned her. "You have to eat something else first."

"Oh, no! Some chocolate ice-cream would do lovely, thank you." Sandrine said, reaching for the chocolate ice-cream.

Yamiko slapped her hand. "What did I say? Ice-cream is for dessert, not only course."

Sandrine rolled her eyes and sighed exaggeratedly. "Oh, well..." She said resignedly.

Yamiko brought her a big dish with a little bit of everything and Sandrine started devouring it at once, not caring that everybody else was looking transfixed at her. After two or three mouthfuls, she sighed contentedly and then dared speak while eating.

"So, I see Yamiko arrived on time, right?" She asked Sirius.

"Yes," Sirius answered, "thank you Sandrine."

There was a round of whispered thankyous around the table.

"Well, I did nothing." She said shrugging. "You know, Sirius, you are really opportune. First, you die in the middle of the night and wake me up. Then you get yourself attacked when I'm in the middle of a heart transplant and I have to run out of the operating room to warn Yamiko. I think I should give you my schedule, you know. The times marked in red will mean: 'Must keep a low profile, Sandrine is not available'." She smiled.

"Better give it to the Death Eaters," Sirius said amused.

"Hmmm," Sandrine froze for a moment with her hand mid-way to her mouth, "good idea, I could pay dear Bellatrix a visit, and while I'm there, we could talk some other things over too."

"Sandrine..." Yamiko said in a warning tone.

There was some silence afterwards, until Benjamin asked Sandrine how had gone the transplant. They talked about it for a moment while the others finished their desserts and listened.

"I'm really exhausted!" Sandrine complained, and she looked it too. There were dark circles around her eyes and she looked much thinner than Sirius remembered. "And it's not only the work at the hospital. I seem to have lost control of my senses. For the last couple of weeks, I keep sensing danger everywhere." Nobody dared comment on that, but they thought maybe Sandrine's senses were working perfectly right after all. "For all the Princesses! I'm even sensing the presence of a werewolf here since I came! Imagine that! In Yamiko's house!" She said in a disbelieving tone, and started laughing heartily.

There was an uncomfortable silence around the table. The tension in the air was so thick that you could have cut it with a knife. Sandrine noticed, of course, and stopped laughing awkwardly. She concentrated hard on her food, but instead of eating it, she just played around with some onion rings. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "Right, ok." She was talking more to herself than for the others' benefit.

With a great effort, as if a big weight was keeping her head down, Sandrine straightened and looked around. When she reached Lupin, she stopped and fixed her green eyes on him, then bit her lips nervously.

Everybody else had followed her gaze, and the ones who didn't know yet Remus was a werewolf -the Grangers and the Dursleys- were looking at him mystified.

"Sandrine..." Sirius and Dumbledore started to say. None of them finished the sentence, though, because just then they heard again a key.

Edvard and Michel, Sandrine's cousin and brother respectively, walked into the kitchen, and stopped in the doorframe. First they were surprised to see so many people there. Then they were shocked at the unnatural silence.

Michel walked over to her sister and kissed her cheek. Edvard followed him, but looking around the table. So many people, and all so quiet. How strange! He went to stand next to Sandrine and said hello to everybody. Then someone caught his attention: a man with greying hair sitting next to Sirius, almost in front of Sandrine. He was looking at him too, an inquiring expression on his face.

Edvard smiled to himself. He looked from Sandrine to the man and back. Sandrine's pale face confirmed his suspicions. "You are a werewolf, right?" He asked Lupin.

"Yes, I am," Remus answered, his voice sad.

"I thought so," Edvard said. He then reached over the table to shake Remus' hand and said the two words Lupin least expected to hear:

"Me too."

*****

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Thanks for the reviews!

Thanks all for reading and reviewing!

First of all, I must give once more virtual chocolate frogs, this time to **Lily Skylo**, for guessing Edvard was a werewolf. Bravo!

I got reviews from people who thought Benjamin was good and others thought he was evil. Well, so far, he seems to be ok. But as someone commented, Slytherins are very difficult people, so you never know...

Next chapter plans will be made to protect the Order of the Phoenix, and Remus has a very interesting conversation with Edvard -well, at least I hope you'll find it interesting. :D

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hermionegreen: Thanks for your review. You were right about Benjamin. ;-) We'll see more about him next chapter.

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Kadi Rilla Wholi: Aaaaaaaah! Not all Slytherins are evil, Kadi. You have to give them a chance. ;-) I'm glad you liked Ron's declaration. Let's hope now that the Order is under the protection of the Sams there will be more time for romance. 

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Lily Skylo: Congratulations again, both about Edvard and Benjamin. I wouldn't worry much about Dean if I were you, I'm sure he'll find another girl soon enough, he's still young. :D We'll see him soon too (maybe in a couple of chapters).

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Lady Arwen of Rivendell: What an honour! Lady Arwen herself reviewing my fic! Thanks! Ginny asks me to thank you too for your kindness in thinking Harry should be hers, but regrets to say her crush on Harry belongs to the past, so she is very happy that Benjamin turned out to be ok -so far at least. Jokes apart, I really think Ginny and Harry are meant for each other too, and probably they will end up together in Rowling's books... but not in this fic. ;-)

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Starfire: Thanks for the explanation. I feel much better now. :-) I hope you enjoyed this chapter too. What did you think of Sandrine?

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Makalani Astral: Thanks for your review! I have some hope in Draco too, let's see how much Amanda can influence him. I don't think Benjamin would be against muggleborns, although he is definitely a pureblood himself. His sister Sha-adi is not even wholly human, remember? And he loves her dearly.

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Believe: Thanks a lot for your review, I found it very funny. I'm glad you liked the chapter, and Benjamin too.

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TRF-Chan: Hi! Thanks for your review. I hope you liked this chapter too.


	19. Conversations

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Disclaimer: The characters that look familiar to you belong to J. K. Rowling. The ones you cannot find in any of her books are mine. I don't intend to make any money out of this. I'm just having some fun.

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Conversations

Edvard's laugh made Remus realise his mouth was hanging open. He wasn't the only one, though, most people in the room were looking quite astounded. Lupin chanced a look at Sandrine. She was still pale, but smiled apologetically at him.

"But you are..." Sirius started to say.

"Yes?" Edvard asked amused.

"You are Sandrine's cousin! And she is a dansarine! How do you... er..."

"Stand each other?" Edvard guessed. Sirius nodded.

"Oh, we don't!" Sandrine answered immediately. "I put up with him only because I haven't been able to pry the recipe of his salmon with asparagus sauce out of him yet. But the moment I catch him out of ward and he confesses, I will absolutely deny I have anything to do with him."

There was a roar of laughter around the table. Sandrine's comment wasn't really that funny, but they had all been so tense, that laughter came as a much needed respite.

Edvard put a very comical offended face and then went around the table and took a seat between Sirius and Remus.

While they all laughed, Yamiko brought some food for Edvard and Michel.

"Not for me, thank you," Michel, now seated next to Benjamin, excused himself. "I've just had breakfast. I'll just have some coffee or tea when everybody finishes their desserts."

"What about you, Edvard?" Yamiko asked.

"Hmmm, I've just had breakfast too... so I'll just eat some, maybe," he said, hiding a smile, and took both dishes out of her hands.

Sandrine rolled her eyes. "He eats like a whole family of ten. I can take him nowhere, because he shocks everybody with so much eating."

"Well, what did you expect?" He said with a raised eyebrow. "You can't have everything in life. And I'm a good bargain too, cousin and pet in one."

There was another roar of laughter from the people in the room.

Sandrine rolled her eyes again and attacked the chocolate ice-cream.

When the meal was over, Dumbledore cleared his throat, attracting everybody's attention. "I want to thank once more Mrs..." Yamiko opened her eyes a lot in warning, and Dumbledore corrected himself in time. "Sorry. I want to thank once more _Yamiko_, for her help and her kindness in having us all here for lunch. I'm afraid I feel obliged to abuse her kindness a little bit more and ask her something..." Yamiko looked expectantly at Dumbledore.

"May my people stay here for a while? Not here in your house. They could live in Black Manor as they have been doing for a time now. The house wasn't safe anymore at Grimmauld Place, as we sadly discovered a few hours ago, but here it would be under your protection, and although Voldemort discovers the house stands here now, he won't be able to attack it so easily in fuocciri territory."

Yamiko didn't think twice. "No problem, you can stay, but we should really move the house a bit, because now it blocks the view over the village, and I like to have an eye there, just in case there is trouble or something. Let me think about it, and then we can try and move it in one piece."

Everybody cheered and some hugged the people sitting closer.

Dumbledore sighed in relieve. "Thanks. You really have no idea what this means to us."

"It's no problem," Yamiko said.

"Won't you be in trouble with your Princess?" Tonks asked.

Yamiko turned suddenly very serious, but then forced a smile. "I've been in trouble with my Princess since I was born. And it's not as if I care that much about her opinion any more. I'm not part of her escort now."

"Why?" Harry asked before he could stop himself.

Yamiko smiled at him. "It's a long story. But let's say... we had some disagreements." Yamiko thought for a moment to choose her words carefully. "The ashanrii laws are very ancient. They probably had a good justification in the beginning, but after so many centuries, it's due time we changed some of them. Not everybody seems to think like that, though. Many ashanriis, specially fuocciris, are afraid of changes. I've been having frequent discussions with other fuocciris about that, trying to explain my point of view, but all I've got so far is a very bad reputation as a disrespectful and troublesome general."

"You are a general?" Ron asked, and then turned very red, surprised at his own daring.

"Yes," Yamiko said, amused at Ron's discomfiture.

"Cool," Fred said, and everybody laughed.

"So what do you do now for a living?" Ginny asked.

"Oh, I didn't work as an escort all of the time, only when the Princess travels around, and she hadn't left the Castle for the last fifteen years. I am a teacher, I work in the fuocciri training centre in the Mountain Castle. That's the main castle of the fuocciris, were Princess Yokiro lives."

"What do you teach?" Bill asked.

"Well, the educational system of the fuocciris is quite different from that of wizards, I think. Usually a teacher takes a group of students of the same age under her wing and teaches them everything they need to know from the age of four until the age of fourteen. And I mean _everything_: from mathematics to cooking, muggle, wizard and ashanrii history, dancing, fighting... whatever. My girls are seven or eight now, so I'll be teaching them for seven years more. At fourteen, the fuocciris have two years of intensive military training, because we are warriors after all. Then, those who want to go on with their studies ask their mother for permission. If the mother agrees, she will choose a fuocciri she wants to honour and will ask her to take her daughter as an apprentice. The apprentice fuocciri lives with her mentor during the year and basically follows her around all of the time. She assists her in her work, trains with her... When the mentor decides the apprentice has learned everything she could teach her, there is a ceremony, a kind of graduation, and the girl can start working in the field she has studied."

"Wow! And do you have any apprentices now?" Ron asked, less intimidated this time.

"Yes, one of my 'nieces', she is not really my niece, but the daughter of one of my older cousins. As we are a very big family, we just call aunt or niece almost everybody. She is seventeen now. You've met her too. She was serving tea with me when Princess Yokiro visited your house," Yamiko said, looking at Sirius.

"Was she the one to your right or to your left?" Harry asked.

"To my right," Yamiko smiled.

"Yes, I remember her," Harry said. The Weasley men remembered her too, she had been attending them.

"You only have one apprentice?" Hermione asked.

"Yes. Some fuocciris have more than one, but it really depends on the profession and on the person. I have thirty girls in my class of seven years, two children of my own, a younger sister and two younger brothers, so I really don't have much time left for mentoring. And then, I always prefer to concentrate in one person at a time, because thus the girl can learn much more."

"You are always talking about girls," Mrs. Weasley commented. "Don't you have boys in your group?"

"No, boys and girls go to separate schools."

There was a surprised gasp around the room.

"Well," Yamiko said, "there is no other way. Only women inherit the ashanrii magic. Girls are much more powerful than boys, so if they were to study together, there would never be consistency in the group. For instance, ashanriis are animagi. You saw us transform into dragons the other day. Each of us can transform into different animals, not just one. Our transformation supposes no effort at all, unless we try to become an animal we weren't born compatible with. For instance, I was born with a dragon, a panther and an owl inside of me. I can also transform into other animals, say a dog like Sirius, for instance, but that would be much more difficult for me, and it hurts too. Boys can learn to be animagi like some wizards do, but they can only transform into one animal, and it costs them much more effort at the beginning. The only difference with wizards is that the fuocciris encourage their sons to become animagi, because they know it's a very useful resource and it could save their lives in the future."

Everybody was hanging on Yamiko's every word. Young and old were all learning so much!

"What about you?" Bill asked Samako. "Are you a teacher too?"

"Yes, but not like Yamiko. I teach at a muggle university in the United States, Egyptology."

"Oh, really!" Bill exclaimed. "I've been working in Egypt as a curse-breaker for some years. It's a fascinating world."

Samako looked utterly delighted. "Oh, how cool! It must have been an amazing experience. You must tell me all about it," she said, almost jumping in her seat, like a little girl. Fred and George rolled their eyes. Bill always got the best-looking girls.

Before Bill and Samako could get lost talking about their favourite subject though, Tonks asked her what animals she could turn into.

"Oh, well, mostly the same ones as Yamiko. You usually inherit the animal spirits from your parents. Let's see, the animal I feel most comfortable with is the panther. Then I can be a dragon too, you saw that already..." There was some laughter, they remembered Samako as a laughing dragon well enough. "And I can become a goldfish."

"A goldfish?" Sirius asked amused.

"Yeah, Sha-adi's bad influence, I guess."

They all laughed again.

"What about you Sha-adi?" Penelope asked.

"Well, apart from being a mermaid, which I think you probably know by now, I can transform into a dolphin, into an eagle and into a sea snake."

"Wow!"

"Yeah," Sha-adi smiled shyly. "And I have my own kindergarten. Muggle kids from newborn babies to three of four years old children."

Everyone nodded, and then they automatically turned their faces to Sandrine.

"Well, as you know I'm a nurse. Coronary illnesses, muggle hospital. And I can turn into a phoenix..." Many people gaped at her. A phoenix was a very magically powerful animal. "And I can also become a snake and a pegasus."

"Impressive," Dumbledore said, and they all agreed heartily with the old man.

"Well, they are all very useful for healing. I think my vocation in life was already in my genes."

"Do you keep Edvard company then in the nights of the full moon?" Sirius asked.

"Yes, whenever I can."

"Always," Edvard interrupted.

"Well, no, not always..."

"No, not always." Edvard conceded. "A couple of months ago she wasn't there, because there was an emergency from the hospital where she works and she had to leave, but apart from that night and maybe two or three similar ones through the years, you've been there for me most of the time, Sandrine, you know that, stop feeling guilty."

"I don't feel guilty," she pouted, "I didn't bite you, did I?"

There was some scattered laughter, Remus didn't find it funny though. Sandrine and Edvard didn't laugh either.

"She's trying to become a wolf too," Edvard added.

"Well, yes," Sandrine said. "But it's really hard. I don't have much time for practising either. I'm always too tired."

"She makes a nice company as a pegasus, anyway," Edvard said smiling. "The phoenix Sandrine is a little bit boring, although she sings very well. Puts the wolf to sleep in a minute. And the snake... well, that's probably the less convenient of her forms."

"Oh, 'less convenient', what a polite way to put it!" Sandrine mocked Edvard.

"Well, sorry. Snakes make me nervous, I can't help it."

There was some talk about snakes then, from there they changed to Slytherins, and from there to Hogwarts and other subjects. It was in general a very enjoyable reunion, but soon enough some people had to leave.

"I'd better get going," Benjamin said, trying to stifle a yawn, "my shift starts in two hours, and I have a long way to apparate to."

"Why don't you take an astral door?" Yamiko asked while clearing the table.

"Miko, you know I don't like them," Benjamin sounded a bit annoyed.

"It's ok, Ben, I have to leave too, you can come with me," his sister proposed. "I can leave you at St. Mungo's and then I'll walk to the kindergarten. I have time enough, I don't need to be there until 7:30 anyway."

"I'll come too, I need to go back to the hospital," Sandrine said with a sigh.

"Ok, anybody else has to go back to London? You can come with us." Benjamin offered.

The wizards and witches looked at each other.

"What time is it in England anyway?" Bill asked, looking at his watch, which had stopped working when they were sucked into Yamiko's amulet, like everybody else's.

"7:00 a.m." Sha-adi said, "It's eight hours earlier than here."

The muggle clock on the wall said it was 3 p.m. now wherever they where.

"It's a long way to apparate to," Samako said, "if any of you needs to leave soon, better leave now and wait in England, astral doors are much more practical."

Sirius remembered for a moment his experience with astral doors. Not something he was looking forward to repeat. For once, he felt lucky he had to stay at Headquarters.

In the end it was decided that almost everybody would leave, save for Mrs. Weasley, Remus, Sirius, Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny. The rest of them either had to be back at work or preferred to go back home and have a good rest. Now that Headquarters was under the protection of the Sams, there was no need for them all to remain there. Everybody scattered at once to get their things.

Remus followed Edvard to his study. It seemed he, Sandrine and Michel stayed often at the Sams, and they had each their room and an attached study where they could work.

"I come often during the holidays," Edvard explained, "there is a large quantity of magical dark creatures around here, hidden in the mountains, you know. So I use my holidays to catch some of them for my classes at Beauxbatons. I study them too, and write down anything that gets my attention. Sometimes I try new spells with them too."

"That's very interesting," Remus said, sitting comfortably on an armchair in front of Edvard's bureau table. "When do you teach about dark creatures at Beauxbatons? I mean, in which school year, second, third?"

"Usually third," Edvard answered, "but if I come across an interesting creature I know I might not be able to find again, I usually make an exception class and teach about it to all the students, from first year to seventh."

Remus was very interested in everything Edvard had to say. It wasn't the first time that he had come across another werewolf, but Edvard's job at Beauxbatons, their being more or less the same age, and the fact that Edvard seemed eager to talk to him and share his experiences with Remus -which didn't happen often, because werewolves were usually very reserved about their condition-, made this an exceptional encounter. And Edvard was very nice too. Remus was sure he would have enjoyed his conversation even though he hadn't been a werewolf.

Remus was going to ask Edvard how he felt about his work at Beauxbatons, if he wasn't worried about hurting the children, but a soft knock on the door prevented him from doing so.

"Come in!" Edvard said.

The door opened slowly and Sandrine came in, carrying a tray with tea and pastries. She was walking very slowly, her eyes fixed on the tray, which was quite full. She left the tray on the table and smiled at them.

"Edvard," she said, "Mr. Dumbledore wanted to talk with you before leaving. He is waiting downstairs."

"Right. I'll be back in a moment," Edvard said, glancing at Remus, and closed the door of the study after leaving it.

Sandrine poured some tea on two of the cups -she had brought three.

"Sugar, Mr. Lupin?"

"Yes, please, four spoons."

Sandrine looked at him surprised. "That's not very healthy," she said smiling.

"I know," Remus said sheepishly, "but I can't take sugar for a whole week each month, so the other three weeks I try to compensate for it."

"With four spoons every time? Very well," Sandrine said almost laughing.

"Well, yes... and I like sweet things very much. Specially chocolate. I'm addicted to chocolate."

"Yes, Edvard likes it very much too. He didn't use to before being bitten, but since then he can't go many days without having some. I think the wolf probably consumes a lot of sugar for the transformation."

"Yes, probably. Pity it makes the Wolfsbane Potion useless." Remus commented warily.

Sandrine gave him a sad smile. Then she cleared her throat and said what she really had come to say:

"Mr. Lupin, I... I wanted to apologise about before."

"Before?" Remus wasn't following her.

"Yes, well, when I realised you were a werewolf... I couldn't avoid tensing a bit." She said, biting her lower lip nervously. Remus just looked astounded at her. "I'm really sorry. I should know better than to be scared of a werewolf, specially during the day. And then Edvard is my cousin and we've lived together almost all of the time since he was bitten. It's just... instinct, you know? Werewolves are the worst enemies of my people, and I guess I can't avoid taking a defensive attitude towards a werewolf the first time I see him. I hope you won't think the worse of me for that, and I hope we can become friends, you know? It's nice for Edvard to have someone he can talk to about his condition, share his experiences... And you are Sirius' friend too, and I'm sure we're going to meet often, specially if you are going to stay in the house."

Remus was trying very hard to analyse all of this and not to stare at Sandrine. Not only her reaction had been perfectly normal, but it also had been most pleasing in comparison with the ones he usually got from people when they found out what he was. The girl was looking expectantly at him, waiting for his answer, so Remus forced himself to speak:

"I don't know what to say... It's the first time someone apologises to me for being _afraid_ of the wolf in me. I can assure you that I didn't feel offended at all, if that's what you are worried about, and I can assure you too your reaction was perfectly understandable. I've got much worse, I can tell you." He said with a lopsided smile. "Please, don't feel bad about it." He added, offering her his hand.

"Ok," Sandrine said shyly, and shook Remus' hand firmly.

Lupin smiled and then said: "Could I ask you something?" He said.

"Sure!" Sandrine said, her big green eyes fixed on him.

"Do you think you could call me Remus and not Mr. Lupin?"

Sandrine grinned and nodded. "No problem, Remus."

The door opened and Edvard came back into the room.

"I should be going," Sandrine said. "Pleased to meet you Remus." She then kissed his cousin's cheek. "See you later."

"You are coming back today?" Edvard asked.

"Probably, depends on how the patient develops. I've been up all night anyway. I just want to go back for a couple of hours and check some things. I should be back pretty soon, but I'll probably go straight to bed." She explained.

"Ok, see you later, then, or maybe tomorrow." Edvard said, and Sandrine closed the door behind her.

"Did I miss anything?" Edvard asked, looking at Remus, who seemed lost in thought and was still looking at the spot were Sandrine had been before leaving.

"What? Oh, no, not really. Well, it was kind of weird... Your cousin apologised for having reacted a little bit defensively when she realised I was a werewolf."

Edvard laughed. "I keep telling her, people don't usually just tense a bit, they _run_ as fast as they can in the opposite direction!"

They both laughed. Remus thought this was probably the first time that he found _that_ funny. Talking about his condition with someone who really understood how it felt made it suddenly look much less important.

"What about Dumbledore, did _I_ miss anything?" Remus asked shrewdly.

Edvard took a sip of his tea and chuckled. "You are right, we talked about you."

Remus sighed and rubbed his tired eyes. "I feared as much."

"Why? Are you afraid that I might be able to convince you?" Edvard asked, looking amused at him.

"I must admit I am. And it's not only you, you know? Dumbledore insists every time he sees me. And Sirius is a very persistent ally too. He is going to be working at Hogwarts this year, you know? He says it would be fun to be back at Hogwarts... _together_."

"And you don't agree?" Edvard asked.

"Yes, but I'm afraid it would be _too much_ fun. You know, we were quite crazy when we were students there. I'm not sure I could keep my reputation of responsible teacher intact with him around."

They both laughed.

"Well, and apart from that? Would you like to go back to Hogwarts or not?

Remus didn't have to think twice. "Definitely."

"So? What stops you?"

Remus sighed. "You know _what_. I'm afraid I won't be able to control the wolf."

"But if you took the Wolfsbane..."

"I did take the Wolfsbane the last time," Remus interrupted him, "but still the wolf was out, running free, endangering everybody." Remus shook his head in defeat. "It's too dangerous. I can't risk it."

"Remus, I've been working at Beauxbatons for a very long time now, and nothing has happened, I've hurt nobody, not even before the Wolfsbane was invented. I take the necessary precautions, and that's it."

"Do the staff and the students know?"

"Yes, they do. Not everybody likes it, of course. But not everybody would like _me_, Edvard, anyway, would they? You can't expect everybody to adore you. Some people are just too narrow-minded."

Remus swirled the contents of his cup, looking at the dark liquid moving around.

"Remus," Edvard insisted, "have you ever wondered that maybe the students would be in a greater danger without you?"

Remus looked up at this, but didn't say a thing.

"They need a good teacher, Remus. Someone who would teach them to defend themselves. We don't know how long this war is going to last, but at least the older generations are going to have to fight it, you know that. And then you would also be there in case Voldemort decides to attack Hogwarts, and you could be a great help then, I'm sure of that. Dumbledore needs a competent wizard and a competent teacher, and you are both."

"How do you know?" Remus asked, and immediately regretted it, because he had sounded very childish.

"I know because Albus Dumbledore wouldn't have asked me to convince you to take the job again if he didn't think you were the best for it. He knows you are a werewolf, Remus. Don't you think he would have thought about the pros and the cons? And after doing so, he still thought he wanted you for the DADA position. And he is going out of his way to try and convince you."

Remus looked defeated. "I really don't deserve this," he said, his voice unsteady.

Edvard turned dead serious. "Remus, you are not a monster. No werewolf is. We are just ill. We take our medicine, stay away from other people when the contagion risk is high, and the rest of the month we live our lives as everybody else. I don't want you to feel forced to take the job if you won't be happy with it, and I'm sure Dumbledore and Sirius don't want you to live in constant distress and fear. If this is really too much for you, then don't do it, but just think about the pros too before taking your decision, ok?"

Remus sniffled and forced himself to look Edvard in the eye before nodding. Edvard smiled encouragingly at him.

"If you want to talk about it, you can come to me any time." Edvard said. "I think I've pressured you enough for now. And there's something else I wanted to talk to you about anyway." He said, and Remus saw his eyes dart to the third empty cup that Sandrine had brought.

"My cousin Michel, Sandrine's brother... he is trying to find a cure for werewolves, or at least to improve the Wolfsbane and reduce the side-effects."

"Oh," Remus forgot in a moment about Hogwarts and the DADA position.

"Yes, well, he started not long ago, and he hasn't made much improvement yet, but he is working hard, and he is really good. Benjamin and his sister Amanda are helping too whenever they can. They are both very talented in potions and herbology. The main problem, apart from the difficulties the Ministry is making, of course," Edvard almost spat the word 'Ministry', "his major handicap is to find volunteers for his research. He needs someone to try the modified recipe of the Wolfsbane, but it's difficult to find werewolves in the first place, and then most of them don't even give it a thought. They are too scared of coming out into the public, and they mistrust anyone who offers them help, they are not used to it." Edvard shook his head sadly. "Michel asked me to tell you about it. If you are interested, he will explain all the details himself. And... well, he would pay you a bit too, for the... possible inconveniences."

"You are doing it too?" Remus asked.

"Of course!" Edvard said, his good humour back. "Sandrine would kill me if I didn't help her dear brother! And then, I'm probably one of the main reasons why Michel decided to take this line of research, you know, he wanted to help me."

Remus thought for a moment. "I will definitely do it." He said firmly. "Any improvement, though small, would mean a lot to me and also to the other werewolves. I want to help if I can."

Edvard smiled. "You are very strange, Remus Lupin," he said jokingly, "you have a lot of misgivings about taking a normal relatively secure job, but jump at once into a possibly dangerous offer."

"That's me," Remus joked.

Edvard laughed heartily. "Very well, then, I think it's time for Michel to join us. He will tell you all about his research."

***

While Edvard, Remus and Michel discussed about werewolves and Wolfsbane, outside Yamiko's house Benjamin was talking with Ginny.

"I'm afraid we are going to have to postpone the cinema," he said.

"It's ok," Ginny said, her cheeks a little bit pink.

"What shift do you have tomorrow?"

"9 to 5."

Benjamin thought for a moment. "Me too. Maybe we could do something tomorrow, after work? Maybe I can arrange it with Sha-adi so that she meets us somewhere in the evening and then we can come back together through an astral door."

Ginny wasn't sure if she wanted Sha-adi knowing she had a date with his brother. What if she didn't approve of it? She would probably think Ginny was too young for Benjamin.

"If you don't want to, I'll understand," Benjamin said, suddenly serious.

"Oh, no, no, it's not that, you misunderstood me," Ginny assured him. "It's not that I don't want to go out with you tomorrow, but I don't know what Sha-adi would think. And I don't want my mother to know just yet, you know."

"Oh, Sha-adi won't say a word. And we don't need to tell her that we are going for a drink or to the cinema anyway. We can tell her that you've decided to stay at St. Mungo's longer so that you can go back in the evening with me. I often stay longer at work than I'm supposed to, she won't think it strange. Still, I insist: she wouldn't say a word."

Ginny thought for a moment. "Very well then," she said smiling.

Benjamin smiled too, obviously relieved that Ginny had finally agreed to go out with him.

***

When Sha-adi left, followed by the people who needed or wanted to go back to London, Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny went back to Black Manor to take a nap. They were aching all over, although the food had helped them feel a bit better.

Ron and Harry fell asleep immediately, but Ginny and Hermione had a lot to tell each other, so in the end they didn't sleep at all. Hermione told Ginny that Ron and herself were going out together.

"About time!" Ginny exclaimed, and Hermione couldn't help but wonder if Ron and herself had been the only two people blind enough to see they were interested in each other.

Then Ginny told her about Benjamin.

"Oh, he is very handsome!" Hermione exclaimed delighted. "But what about Dean?" She added as an afterthought. Ginny shrugged and bit her lower lip nervously. "Oh, Gin, you are _terrible_!" Hermione exclaimed, and then both girls laughed amused.

***

Sirius and Molly sat comfortably on the sofa. The Dursleys and the Grangers were standing behind them, waiting nervously for Yamiko and Samako.

Both sisters came into the sitting-room and made themselves comfortable too. Samako, the youngest, was the first to speak:

"So, Mr. Dumbledore has agreed with us that you could very well leave. You won't be in danger in China. We doubt very much Voldemort will be so much interested in any of you as to try and pursue you here. You could go back to England too if you want, but we don't think you should go back home just yet, better wait until the first of September. You could also go to another country if you want. We can take you there with magic. It wouldn't be a problem."

"Maybe we could visit a bit of China, since we are here..." Mrs. Granger said hopefully.

"But what about our luggage, or the money? And we don't speak the language either, and don't even have a map or a guide." Mr. Granger objected.

"If you want to travel around China for a while," Samako said, "we could help you. I could take you to a big city if you want, there you could probably contract some trips with a local guide who speaks English or take a train to go somewhere else. Mr. Dumbledore left some money for you, as a small compensation for all this trouble. It's wizard money, but there is a wizarding bank where we can change it for Chinese muggle money. I think it should be enough to let you have a nice holiday."

"You are very welcome to stay too," her older sister interrupted. "It's not that we want to get rid of you. We just thought you'd probably rather travel around a bit. But if you want to stay, it's no problem at all. Both my sister and I are on holidays now, so we can show you the area and the nearby village..."

Mrs. Granger looked at her husband. "I think we would rather travel around... what do you think dear?" She said.

"Yes, I would definitely rather travel around. We are very grateful for your hospitality Yamiko, and also for the protection you are offering our daughter and her friends, but the truth is that my wife and I have always wanted to visit China, only that the plane ticket was too expensive. But now that we are here..." Mr. Granger smiled a little bit sheepishly.

The Sams smiled back. "Very well then," Yamiko said. "My sister can surely lend you some books about muggle China, and we'll be both glad to help you decide the itinerary, depending on what interests you the most. When you finish your travel, you can come back here and we'll be delighted to take you back to your home, it's no problem at all." The Grangers muttered a heartfelt thankyou and immediately started murmuring, trying to decide what they wanted to see. Yamiko turned her attention to the Dursleys.

"What about you? Would you like to travel around too, or would you rather stay here? Or go back to England? To any other country?"

Petunia Dursley looked sideways at her husband while twisting her hands nervously. "I think... maybe we would rather go to another place, somewhere where Dudley can have fun too. Maybe Disney World or some similar place."

"Yes, mum, can we go there?" Dudley cried excited. It was the first time the Sams had heard him speak, they were starting to think he was a little bit retarded.

"That wouldn't be a problem, we can take you there. You can take a plane from there to go back to England, or you can come here first and then we'll take you there." Samiko said.

"I think we'd rather come here first," Mr. Dursley said.

"Of course, you probably want to wish your nephew a happy school year before going back home," Yamiko commented. Mrs. Weasley couldn't help a tiny grunt, but she disguised it quite well with a cough. Sirius just rolled his eyes.

Vernon Dursley forced a smile. The truth was that he had not the smallest wish to be near Harry in some weeks nor in some years, but he knew it wouldn't be wise to say so in front of all these freaks. He had been only thinking that by coming back they wouldn't need to pay for the plane ticket back to England. Yamiko took his smile for a 'Yes', though, and nodded approvingly.

The Grangers and the Dursleys followed Samako into the library of the Sams to look up some travel books and plan their trips. Meanwhile, Sirius, Molly and Yamiko started to discuss what to do with Black Manor.

"I was thinking that maybe we could move the house and place it next to this, as if they were attached. Then we could open a door in a wall so that you could come in and out of my house without going outside. If we are attacked, that will allow us to co-ordinate our defences." Yamiko proposed, drawing everything in a parchment in red ink, as if she was planning a military strategy.

"Sounds good to me," Sirius said nodding, "the only problem I see is that my parents' house is protected by very ancient magic. My ancestors have inhabited the house for many years. I'm not sure we will be able to open a door in a wall. The walls are very thick too."

"We could place it behind Yamiko's house," Molly proposed, "and then we could match the main door in Black Manor with the back door of your house, Yamiko."

"No, that's not possible," Yamiko objected. "I need to keep the backyard clear for different reasons: first, so that I can see the mountains, I like to keep an eye there, just in case the giants quarrel again. And then my dragons use the backyard door to come in and out of the house freely. They wouldn't be very happy if we were to block their entry."

"Dragons come in and out of your house freely?" Molly asked, a little bit worried.

"Well, not _any_ dragons," Yamiko corrected her a little bit offended, "_my_ dragons are very well behaved, I've trained them since they came out of the egg."

Sirius tried not to laugh at Mrs. Weasley's shocked expression, although he had to admit he didn't like much the idea of having dragons walking around either.

"Mmmm, isn't that a little bit dangerous? What about the kids?" Sirius asked. Mrs. Weasley was still too astounded to speak.

"Oh, that's precisely the point. The dragons take care of my sons." Yamiko explained, surprised that Sirius would ask something so evident.

'So! The kids are Yamiko's sons after all.' Sirius thought.

"But they eat humans," Molly whispered, as if afraid the dragons would hear her and attack her.

"No! Of course they don't!" Yamiko protested.

"What about the Death Eater then?" Sirius asked.

"Well, that was an exception, of course," Yamiko said energetically. "They are allowed to eat intruders or enemies."

"But what about us?" Molly insisted. "If we connect both houses and the dragons come into Black Manor, won't they attack the children?"

"Molly," Yamiko said, reaching across the coffee-table to put a comforting hand on Mrs. Weasley's knee and talking in a sweet calming voice, "dragons _never_ attack first, they just defend themselves and what is theirs." She paused to look at Sirius and Molly, they didn't look too convinced. "My dragons won't attack your children nor anybody else, Molly, they will _defend_ them."

Sirius cleared his throat. "Maybe we should let the people get acquitted with the dragons first under your supervision, Yamiko. Just to make sure that the dragons identify everybody as inoffensive and won't feel menaced by anybody's presence."

Yamiko thought for a moment. "Ok, if you'll feel better then, we can do that, although I can assure you there's no need at all. No dragons have attacked you so far, have they?" Sirius shook his head uncomfortably and looked at the floor. "But if you want, we can do that," Yamiko repeated, this time looking at Molly, who forced a smile and nodded with difficulty.

Yamiko straightened again and smiled. "Very well, then. We'll do it this evening."

"What are we going to do this evening, if I may ask?" Lupin was coming downstairs and had only heard Yamiko's last sentence.

"Meet Yamiko's dragons, so that they get used to our presence and there will be no risk that they might attack us by mistake," Sirius explained, a little bit warily.

"Oh," was all that Remus could say. He looked at Molly and Yamiko, none of them looked too happy either, so he thought he'd better change the subject.

"And did you ask Yamiko about the training?" Lupin asked his friend.

Everybody looked very thankful for the opportunity to forget about the dragons for a while.

"No, I haven't had the time yet." Sirius said, and then turned to their hostess. "Yamiko, Remus was going to train some students during the summer. We had planned how to let them come and go without arousing suspicion, but now that we are here... I think most of them are underage, you see, so they cannot apparate. We were wondering if you think we could still go on with our idea or not."

"What kind of classes?" Yamiko asked, turning to Lupin.

"Basically duelling," Remus answered.

"You can use my training room," Yamiko offered immediately.

"Well..." Remus hesitated, he didn't want to abuse Yamiko's hospitality even more, but he didn't want to offend her either by refusing her offer, "we have plenty of room in Black Manor, so it's not really necessary, but if you don't mind..."

"I can show you the room later, and then you decide," Yamiko said, "my sister and I only use it in the morning, after breakfast, the rest of the day it's empty. As for their getting here... Can't they stay for as long as the classes go on?"

"We are not sure about that," Sirius commented. "We still have to contact the students, you know. We had planned to do it before, but things got complicated, everything was delayed, and we haven't been able to start the classes yet. Maybe some of them will be allowed to stay. And maybe others won't be allowed to come. We are only... speculating so far."

"I see..." Yamiko said, thinking hard. "I'm sure we can find a solution. Maybe we should know first how many people are coming and if they will be staying, or coming and going. My sister and I are both on holidays, so we could pick them up and take them back, although it could be a mess to do so everyday. It would be better if they could stay." She turned her head to look at Sirius and then at Remus, they were looking at each other too.

"I'll send the letters now," Remus finally said. "I could tell them the training will start next week, and that I'll send them another letter with instructions as soon as everything is ready."

"That sounds good," Molly said, a little bit more recovered from her worries about the dragons.

Sirius and Yamiko nodded in agreement.

"Ok, then, that's settled too," Yamiko said. "Anything else that you wanted to talk to me about?"

There was a general shake of heads.

"Very well. I suggest you have some rest now. You've been up almost all night. I'll cook a late dinner today. I'll wake you up when it's ready. We can move the house afterwards and then I'll call the dragons in."

Mrs. Weasley swallowed with difficulty, but managed to utter a 'thanks'. Sirius and Remus thanked Yamiko too, and then the three of them went back to Black Manor to have a most deserved rest.

*****

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Thanks for the reviews!

Thanks all for reading and reviewing!

Sorry I didn't update sooner. Every time I tried to log in this weekend, FF.net was down or there were problems with the logging in process.

This chapter is kind of weird, I'm not too happy with it, but I had to stop rewriting it someday if I want to go on with the story. Chapters 20 and 21 are almost ready too.

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hermionegreen: I'm glad I was able to surprise some of you at least. As you see, Black Manor is going to stay there, at least for the summer. Mrs. Granger definitely wants to leave -although she would like very much to come back-, Petunia will never feel comfortable around magic -but will probably learn to take advantage of it-, and we'll see about Voldemort and the Death Eaters in later chapters. ;-)

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hermionita: I'm very happy to hear from you again. This chapter was much more relaxed, and the following probably too, but there will be more surprises in Chapter 21. ;-)

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Kadi Rilla Wholi: :D Yes, I enjoyed very much killing Lestrange. :D I know, I know, I shouldn't have, but I can't avoid it. And yes, Edvard is a werewolf, and Lupin is very glad of it. 

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Lily Skylo: I laughed a lot with your review. Are you sure the chocolate frog didn't have any liquor inside? :D What do you want to know about Edvard? We'll be seeing him now and then, but I wasn't planning on telling much about him, apart from what we already know. As you see, Sandrine's family is quite cool. ;-)

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Pothead the Great: Sí, sí, soy española. ¿Cómo estás? :D Thanks for the review. You are right, the story is probably too ambitious. I got carried away by my imagination. This is my first fic, but next time I write one -if I ever do-, I'll try to have less characters, because it's really hard to keep track of all of them. Thanks for your support, though. ;-)

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TRF-Chan: Ah, yes, you'll have to trust your intuition a lot. I'm glad you enjoyed last chapter. ;-)

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angelwings6117: Edvard and Remus asked me to thank you for your support of werewolves. ;-) As for Benjamin getting into Headquarters, I was playing with the idea that he -and the Death Eaters- wouldn't have been able to see the house, but as Ginny was getting in, the house had to appear for a moment to let her in, and then everybody else could see it. The Death Eaters knew the house had to be close, and so they were waiting for someone to come in or out. Once they had already seen it, they could apparate into it.

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Makalani Astral: Edvard did, of course! That's why he is so accepting. ;-)

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Starfire: You are right about the cliffhanger. I usually try to avoid them, because as a reader, I really hate them, but sometimes I just don't know where to end the chapter. And I always get many more reviews if the chapter ends in an interesting point. ;-) I'll try not to abuse them, though.

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amber eyed wolf: Thanks! I'm glad to hear from you again. As you see, the pack is getting bigger. ;-)

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sweet-as-padfoot: I'm glad you are enjoying my fic so much. I try to update every two days. Sometimes it takes me a bit longer, because of work or FF.net not working properly, but you shouldn't have to wait too long for an update. ;-)

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kt: Hi! Thanks for your review! Well, if you have gone on reading the fic, you'll have probably realised that I have other plans for Ginny. And yes, there is probably going to be some Cho-Harry, but you can go on reading without fear some more chapters yet, I promise I'll warn you in time so that you can skip the chapter where Cho and Harry meet. ;-)

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Lupin: Thank you! I'm glad you like my fic so far. I hope you'll enjoy the following chapters too. ;-)


	20. Paintings and Photographs

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Disclaimer: The characters that look familiar to you belong to J. K. Rowling. The ones you cannot find in any of her books are mine. I don't intend to make any money out of this. I'm just having some fun.

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Paintings and Photographs

Harry awoke with his lips dry as if he hadn't had any water for days. He searched for his glasses in the darkness of the room and took his wand. After conjuring up some light, he checked if Ron was still asleep. He was, so Harry decided to let him rest and went downstairs alone. The house looked a little creepy in the evening light. Harry descended the stairs cautiously, avoiding the steps that creaked, he didn't want the others to awake, they had deserved a little bit of rest.

He headed for the kitchen, but a hiccuping noise made him turn instead to the entrance of the house. Harry could hear someone crying, a woman, but when Harry got there, there was nobody.

"Hello?" He asked tentatively. There was no answer, but the crying went on.

"Hello?" He insisted. "Do you hear me? Can I help you somehow?"

Still nobody answered, but the sobbing stopped, that gave Harry some hope.

"Where are you? Why are you crying?" He asked, looking around, waiting for the person, ghost or creature to make an appearance.

"Who are you?" A sniffling voice said.

"Harry P..." Harry checked himself in time, what if it was a dark creature or someone trying to lay him a trap?, better not reveal he was The Boy Who Lived. "My name is Harry," he repeated.

"Harry? Are you a Black?" The voice asked.

"No, but I know one." In truth, if he counted Bellatrix Lestrange, Narcissa Malfoy and Tonks he knew four, but he decided the voice didn't need to know all the details.

When the voice didn't speak, Harry asked in turn. "Who are you?"

Harry could have never guessed the answer: "I'm the mistress of the house, Stella Black."

Harry thought for a moment. Could this be Sirius' mother? The woman of the portrait? He turned to the portrait then and realised it was utterly destroyed, then he remembered Uncle Vernon had crashed onto it. Not even a car would have survived such an impact. Uncle Vernon wasn't precisely a light weight.

"Where are you Mrs. Black? Why were you crying?" Harry asked.

"I'm trapped inside the walls, my portrait has been destroyed, and all the other portraits in the house were connected to mine. They are all gone, now, I cannot move to another frame." She explained in a tearful voice.

"Oh!" Harry exclaimed. Mrs. Black had never looked too friendly, but she was still Sirius' mother, well, Sirius' mother's portrait. He didn't know how to help.

"How can I help you?" He asked.

"I don't know," the woman said in utter distress, and started crying again.

Harry was thinking maybe he should wake Sirius up when there was a knock on the door. He tensed immediately. Who could it be? The wards had been down since the Death Eaters' attack. Apparently, the simple fact of being in fuocciri territory was protection enough.

He readied his wand and opened the door cautiously just enough to see who had knocked. He was relieved to see the older of the Sams there, Yamiko.

She smiled at him. "Hi! Dinner will be ready soon, I came to wake you all up."

"Oh," Harry said, "thanks." He doubted for a moment and then said. "You know, I'm not sure we should wake them, they must be very tired."

"I know," Yamiko said, "but if they don't eat now, they will probably wake up hungry in the middle of the night. Better wake them up now so they can eat and then sleep all night through. That should help you get used to the change of time, you can't follow the English time while you are here, it wouldn't be wise nor healthy."

Harry thought for a moment and then realised he had been very rude, keeping Yamiko outside. "Sorry," he said opening the door completely and stepping aside, "please, come in."

"Thanks," Yamiko said, and stepped inside. She looked around with curiosity. She had only seen one room of the house so far and the facade. When she had come in while everybody was still unconscious, she hadn't taken the time to inspect the house.

"What a mess," she commented, looking at the fallen furniture pieces and broken things lying on the floor since the attack.

"Yes." Harry picked up a chair from the floor and offered it to Yamiko. "Please, sit down while I go and wake everybody up."

"Ok," she said, and sat gracefully on the chair, still looking around curiously.

Hermione and Ginny were already awake -or as Harry thought, they hadn't had any sleep, too immersed in their conversation-, but it was hard to wake up the rest. Some of them were in a deep slumber. Remus almost cursed Harry instinctively when the boy shook him, and Ron just got further down the cover and tried to ignore Harry, until he showered him with a jet of water from his wand.

"Ok, ok," Ron said, sitting up in his bed in a flash. "I'm coming, no need to be nasty."

Harry got dressed in a second and went back downstairs. From the top of the last flight of stairs he could see the chair where he had left Yamiko, but it was empty. He hurried and then looked around. Yamiko was in front of Mrs. Black's portrait, running her finger along the torn canvass.

"Everybody is coming," Harry told her.

"Oh, excellent," she said, without much interest, and retreated some steps to study the canvass again. "How did this break? Did you saw it?"

Harry explained what had happened. Yamiko thought for a moment, looking at the canvass all the time.

"Mrs. Black?" She called.

"Yes, I'm still here," the tearful voice answered. Harry guessed they must have introduced to each other while he was upstairs.

"Mrs. Black, I'm afraid I'm not sure how to repair your canvass," Yamiko said. "If it had been broken with a spell, it would have been much easier to restore, but since it was broken physically, it's going to be a bit more difficult. Don't worry though, we'll find a way. Let me think about it and I'll come back tomorrow morning, ok?"

"Ok, thank you dear," a very sad Mrs. Black answered.

"Don't despair, Mrs. Black, you'll be back in shape very soon, I promise," Yamiko said with an encouraging smile. Harry wasn't sure he wanted Mrs. Black back in shape, he felt sorry for the portrait, but he didn't want to hear her screams again.

"I should go back now," Yamiko told Harry, "the last time I left the knives working alone, when I came back they were having a fight and it took me more than an hour to stop them," she said, rolling her eyes. "Do you want to come with me? You can wait for your friends there."

"Fine!" Harry was hoping the knives would be having another fight again, it could be fun. He run upstairs to tell Ron and then hurried back and left with Yamiko.

It was already almost dark, and the air was cool, but Harry welcomed the sensation and breathed in deeply. Black Manor was not the best of homes, not very cheerful really. The fields were silent under the stars, and the sounds of the cicadas were very relaxing. Harry was taken out of his musings by an arm slipping around his, he had been walking with his hands on his pockets.

Yamiko was barely as tall as he was, with the only difference that Harry would probably grow up some more yet, and she wouldn't. She looked at him.

"So. You are Harry, right?" She asked.

"Yes," Harry pressed his lips against each other without even realising. Now it was coming. Yamiko would ask him everything about Voldemort and why he had killed his parents in the first place. Thus, he was very surprised when Yamiko asked:

"Which year are you in Hogwarts, Harry?"

"I'll begin my sixth year the first of September," he replied.

"Ah, so you've passed your OWLs already?"

"Well, I'm not sure yet," Harry answered with a sigh. Yamiko didn't seem to understand, so he explained: "I mean, I had my OWLs last year, but I don't have the results yet." He forced a grin.

Yamiko laughed. "I'm sure you did very well," she said encouragingly. "My son Yi has always wanted to go to Hogwarts. Benjamin has told him a lot of stories about the castle, and the four houses and everything, and now he is always complaining because he is not allowed to go there. His school seems quite boring to him in comparison. There are no ghosts, no Quidditch competitions..."

"What? No Quidditch?" Harry was so horrified that he stopped walking.

Yamiko laughed at his shocked face. "I'm afraid Quidditch is only played by wizards, dear."

"But your sons are wizards, aren't they?" Harry asked nonplussed.

"Well, not exactly," Yamiko replied, "they are magical, but they are sons of an ashanrii, what we call ashantiis. They are not as powerful as ashanriis, but they are usually more powerful than a wizard. Well," she corrected herself, "it's not really that they are more powerful, it's that their education is different, I guess. As I told you before, ashanriis encourage their sons to become animagi since they are very young, for instance."

"Yes, I remember," Harry said, "I just didn't think there would be many more differences."

Yamiko thought for a moment. "Well, there are quite a few, I think. Ashantiis learn foreign languages at school, for instance, because ashanriis usually move quite a lot around the world."

"Yes, I noticed your sons speak English too," Harry said.

"Well, not every ashantii speaks foreign languages as well as my sons do," she said proudly, "my sons speak Japanese, English, French and Irish because they have had relatives and friends who have taught them since they were born."

"They speak five languages?" Harry asked absolutely bewildered.

"Yes, Yi is learning some Norwegian and Spanish now, but he started only last year, so he still has a lot to learn. Communication is very important. Being able to speak with different people allows you to get to know them instead of fearing them for being different. Ashanriis like peace, war only brings sadness."

Harry nodded silently. Yes, war brought sadness. He himself had lost his parents, Neville too... So many wasted lives.

They had reached Yamiko's house by now, and she took her arm from his to open the door with a muggle key.

"You don't use magic to close your door?" Harry asked.

"What makes you think this key is non-magical?" Yamiko asked amused. "That it looks perfectly muggle doesn't mean it cannot be otherwise powerful." And then she whispered, as if someone could overhear them: "Appearances can be deceiving."

"Oh, no, not _again_," Yamiko cried exasperated. There were two knives fighting in mid-air in the middle of the sitting-room, and if Harry wasn't mistaken, that strange noise coming from the kitchen probably meant that the fight was bloodier there.

Yamiko grabbed both knives and forced them to separate. She glared at them and then let them go, and the knives hurried to the kitchen to behave as proper knives should.

When Yamiko and Harry got to the kitchen, the noise had subsided and all the knives seemed to be working normally, probably the other two had warned them that their mistress was coming. Yamiko then whispered in Harry's ear:

"Last time I told them that if I ever caught them fighting again I would melt their blades and burn their handles. It seems it worked."

Then she winked, and Harry smiled amused.

"Care to help me?" Yamiko asked.

"Sure, what can I do?" It was the first time that Harry was happy to help in the kitchen. He thought it was probably because Yamiko had asked him nicely, and Aunt Petunia usually commanded it.

"Sandrine brought some more wine, why don't you open a couple of bottles? They are in there," she said, pointing at a cupboard that turned out to be a muggle fridge, although Harry noticed some improvements, like the fact that it seemed to be bottomless and everything moved to the front row when he opened the door, so that he could reach the different things easily. He grabbed two bottles and then closed the door after muttering a quiet 'thanks'.

"The opener is here," she said, giving Harry a stick with the head of a rooster on top of it. He noticed the eye in the head looking at him. "I think we could eat outside, what do you think?" Yamiko asked.

"That would be wonderful," Harry said, still eyeing the opener suspiciously.

"Won't it be too cool?" Yamiko insisted.

"No, I don't think so," Harry said, looking outside the window.

"Ok, I'll lay the table then," Yamiko said, and left the kitchen through the backyard door, followed by an army of cutlery, napkins, candles, glasses and dishes.

Harry followed her with his gaze for a moment, enjoying the funny parade, and then turned his attention to the opener.

"Ok, let's try this," he said to himself.

He took off the plastic cover of the bottle with a knife and then tried to bury the stick of the opener in the cork, but it was very hard, and Harry realised in time that would only push the cork inside. He thought for a moment he could hear a small laugh, and realised with a shock the rooster's head was laughing at him. Harry got angry and hit the head against the bottle. The cock's beck caught in the cork and the laughter stopped immediately, only to be replaced by a despairing sound, apparently, the rooster couldn't breath. Harry panicked and tried to pull the rooster from the cork, but it only made an agonising sound, as if Harry was hurting the opener.

"Do you need help?"

Harry turned with a sweating face, the bottle and the opener still in his hands. Sandrine was smiling at him. She was carrying a big handbag and wearing a shabby white knitted jacket. Harry thought she had probably just arrived, and in time too.

"Here, let me help you," Sandrine said. "Jean Pierre, stop playing and open the bottle, will you?"

Harry wondered who this Jean Pierre was. There was nobody else in the kitchen apart from the two of them.

"Jean Pierre!" Sandrine warned, looking daggers at the opener.

The rooster's head pushed some more against the cork to get a better grab of it with its beck and then pulled hard, and the rooster took off the cork in one piece and then spat it.

"Jean Pierre, how many times do I have to tell you that you have to throw the cork in the dustbin and not just anywhere?"

The cork floated to the floor, buried its beck once more in the cork and then took it to the dustbin, were it spat it again.

"Much better, thank you," Sandrine said. "Do you think we should open the other bottle already or better wait?" She asked Harry, who was a bit annoyed at having been made fun of by an opener.

"Maybe just one, the others are still in Black Manor," he said.

"Ah, just in time," Yamiko said, coming in from the backyard with three wine glasses in her hands. She kissed Sandrine's cheek first and then put the glasses on the kitchen table, where the bottle started to fill them of its own accord.

"Oh, not for me, thank you," Sandrine said, and the bottle stopped filling the last cup.

"Just a little bit, Sandrine," Yamiko insisted.

"I really shouldn't, I haven't slept in two days. I should just eat something and go straight to bed," Sandrine replied.

Yamiko thought for a moment. "Ok, just a tiny sip then, I want to propose a toast."

"Oh, well, then I'll make the sacrifice..." Sandrine said, taking the fullest glass from the table, and looking immediately at the ceiling, trying to distract Harry and Yamiko so that they wouldn't notice she had taken the fullest glass, when a few seconds ago she had said she shouldn't be drinking wine.

Harry looked amused at Yamiko, who smiled back and rolled her eyes. The bottle finished pouring more wine into the other two glasses and then Yamiko took a glass and rose it in the air. "To a very quiet, boring and Death-Eater-free summer," she said.

Sandrine and Harry took a glass each and joined her in her toast, then they took a sip. Harry thought the wine was really delicious, and he hopped that would mean their wish would come true.

***

Harry hadn't had such an enjoyable dinner since the summer before his fourth year, when he had joined all the Weasleys and Hermione outside the Burrow for a late dinner the evening before they left for the Quidditch World Cup.

Benjamin and Sha-adi had come back in time to join them, bringing the remaining Weasleys and Penelope back with them. Edvard and Mich were there too, they were going to stay for the summer.

At the moment everybody was trying hard to finish their fried bananas, what was taking them all some time, because they were already full to bursting. Nobody seemed willing to leave the bananas alone, though.

"I got already four answers," Remus was saying, "Angelina Johnson, Katie Bell, Alicia Spinet and Lee Jordan are willing to stay for the summer." Fred and George cheered, but Mrs. Weasley only grunted, her worst fears were coming true, Merlin help them with the twins and Lee around.

"Professor Lupin," George said, "Fred and I have decided we'll close our little shop for the summer. It's a risk and we might loose some customers, but we will take orders by owl anyway, and if we stay here we'll be able to join your classes and we could also take the time to try some new products we are planning to launch to the market in September."

Mrs. Weasley happiness at knowing the twins would stay there disappeared as suddenly as it had arrived. Now they would probably blow Black Manor and the Sams' house up. How was she going to control them?

"Susan Bones and Neville Longbottom were very interested in your classes to," Benjamin said, "they got your owl while they were at St. Mungo's. They still had to ask their relatives for permission, though. And I don't think they will be able to attend all of your classes. It will be difficult to arrange their sessions at St. Mungo's around yours. Ginny and Cho Chang will probably have the same problem."

Lupin nodded. "I've thought about that. We'll have our sessions in the afternoon. We'll be practising more or less the same things during three or four consecutive classes, so they should be able to follow our rhythm if they take one class every two or three days and then practise on their own the other days. If they stay here, I could help them practise or be there in case they have questions. What do you think Ginny? Do you think you'll be able to do that and then prepare your classes in St. Mungo's and do your Hogwarts' summer homework?"

Ginny nodded at once. She swallowed the last piece of her banana and then said: "I've already finished my Hogwarts' homework, and I don't really need to prepare my classes at St. Mungo's a lot, because they are very practical, and depend a lot on the patients we get every day. I just have to read some books, and I can do that before going to sleep or something, I'll find the time."

"Very well," Lupin smiled, and Arthur and Molly Weasley were beyond themselves with pride. "Let's hope the others will be able to follow your example, Ginny." Ginny blushed a bit.

"Neville and Susan should have no problem, Professor," Ron said, "we don't have homework this summer, because we don't know for sure which classes we'll be taking next year. We haven't got our OWLs results yet."

"No," Lupin agreed, "but when you get your OWLs, you'll receive too a list of the tasks you should do during the summer, and I'm afraid they will be much more difficult than other years, and you will have less time, because you can't start them yet."

Hermione panicked at this. "Oh, no, we'll only have a month or less to finish our homework?"

"I'm afraid so, Hermione," Lupin said amused, "but I'm sure _you_ will have no trouble to finish it on time." Harry and Ron agreed with Lupin, the problem would be if _they_ would be able to finish the assignments.

The people around the table looked very tired. They hadn't recovered yet from the previous night and lacked sleep, thus Yamiko decided to introduce her pets so that everybody could go back to sleep without further delay. Everybody waited with baited breath for the dragons to appear. Yamiko clapped her hands twice, and the very next second seven scarlet dragons appeared around her, all looking around curiously. There were some younger dragons too, which looked quite sweet. One of them run straight to Yamiko's sons and curled between them, waiting for the children to pet its head, and then closed its eyes lost in utter bliss.

That convinced even Mrs. Weasley that Yamiko's dragons were not dangerous at all, and that everybody would be ok. In fact, she wondered now if those dragons would really attack anyone, and only believed Yamiko's words because she had seen some of them devour Lestrange. If it weren't for that, Molly would have had trouble believing these sweet creatures could harm a fly, much less a human being.

They took turns to pet the bigger dragons, which were obviously older, and after half an hour of fun and listening to Charlie's explanations about Chinese Fireballs, Mrs. Weasley decided it was time to go to bed. There were many complains, because after the excitement of meeting the dragons nobody felt like sleeping, but Yamiko agreed with Molly that they should all go to bed so that the next day they could start following the Chinese time.

"Before you go, though, I think that we should move Mr. Black's house as we had agreed," Yamiko said. "I have been thinking about the spells we could use to do it, but in the end I've decided that the best solution is just to ask my dragons to move the house."

There was a murmur of surprise around the group. Were Yamiko's dragons so strong? Black Manor was a huge house! Obviously, Yamiko knew best, so if she thought it could be done, nobody had anything to say against it. Yamiko and her sister transformed into dragons, and then flew to Black Manor, followed by the rest of the bigger dragons. They flew to the different corners of the building and, taking part of the roof with their talons, lifted the house from the ground and flew to the agreed destination point. Then they turned the house around so that it would have the correct orientation and let it down carefully. Now Black Manor stood next to the Sams' house, its door facing south.

The real dragons went on flying to wherever they were supposed to sleep, followed by the younger specimens, and Yamiko and Samako transformed back into women.

"Now we only have to open a door to communicate both houses," Yamiko said, "it shouldn't be too difficult, unless Sirius is right and the walls of his house are too thick or too magically protected. Give me a moment, there is something I want to try."

Yamiko went into her house and everybody followed, because they were curious about what she wanted to try and if it would work or not. To their surprise, Yamiko only took a small paintbrush, wetted it in red ink, and drew a doorframe on the wall of her house that now stood next to Black Manor. Then she threw the contents of the paint pot against the wall, and the liquid expanded obediently to cover the space delimited by Yamiko's frame. Now they had the door, but no doorknob. Yamiko took another brush and wetted it in golden ink, and drew the doorknob and a peephole with it. The doorknob became immediately three-dimensional. Yamiko grabbed it and opened the door, but all they could see was the wall of Black Manor. She repeated the operation of drawing a door and a doorknob again, and then pushed the second door. It opened, and she turned to smile at them from inside Sirius' house.

Everyone clapped their hands, absolutely impressed by Yamiko's work, and touched the doorframes and the doors' surfaces. They were both red, but they weren't made of solid wall, as they had expected. No, now they were normal wooden doors, only with a not very discreet colour.

After that, they all wished each other a good rest and the wizards and muggles crossed the two doors -which they left open- into Black Manor.

"Sirius," Yamiko said, "could I have a word with you, please? Just a minute."

Sirius was a bit surprised, but nodded immediately. "Sure, no problem Miko."

Harry shared an amused look with Lupin. Trust Sirius to use the fuocciris short names only a few hours after they had met. But then they turned their attention to the Grangers, who were saying their farewells, since they would be leaving early the next morning and they wouldn't see them until they came back at the end of the summer holidays. The Dursleys took their leave too, but they were much more stiff and short, and certainly kissed nobody nor even shook hands.

Meanwhile, Sirius had followed Yamiko back into the kitchen.

"There is something I wanted to ask you, Sirius," Yamiko started nervously.

"Yes?" Sirius asked intrigued.

"I've met your mother this afternoon," Sirius looked utterly shocked, and Yamiko corrected herself quickly: "I mean, her portrait."

"Oh, sorry, she's really an old bat, I hope she didn't insult you," Sirius said, worried that his mother would have offended Yamiko.

"No, no, she was rather nice. I felt sorry for her, you know, because her picture is now destroyed, and she seems to be trapped inside the house walls."

"Really?" Sirius was starting to remember now that Vernon Dursley had crashed onto his mother's picture, he hadn't given it a second thought.

"Yes," Yamiko answered, surprised that Sirius apparently didn't know about his mother's distress. "I told her I would try to fix the picture for her, you know, but I really think her old portrait is destroyed beyond repair, so I was wondering if maybe you could give me a photo of her, so that I can use it to draw a new portrait, you know. That way she could have somewhere to live."

Sirius' mouth hung open for a moment, until he recovered from the surprise. He thought hard, but he wasn't sure if he still had a photo of his mother. "I think there is an old album upstairs, in my mother's old room," he finally said. "The photos should be quite old, though, probably from my mother's wedding, so I don't know if they would be useful at all. The portrait which has been destroyed pictured her in her sixties."

"That shouldn't be a problem. I only need to know how did she look like. Then maybe you can help me get a better idea of how she was. I will need some information on her character and her life so that the portrait is accurate. She can help me too."

The idea of talking about his mother didn't sound quite right to Sirius. "I'm very sorry, Miko, but I'm afraid my mother and I were never too close. My family were dark wizards and I didn't agree with their views on many things, so we quarrelled often, until I finally run away from home when I was sixteen. After that, we only met once, when my younger brother died."

"Oh, I'm sorry," Yamiko said blanching, "I wouldn't have brought the subject up if I had known it was a sad memory for you."

"That's ok," Sirius said, forcing a smile. "It was a long time ago."

Yamiko nodded nervously and bit her lower lip, feeling very guilty. Then she did something Sirius didn't expect, she hugged him, patting his back awkwardly. It was a quite funny picture, really, because Yamiko was so small that she barely reached Sirius' chin, even standing on tiptoe. Sirius was so shocked that he didn't even react at first. He hadn't been hugged much lately, and definitely not by a woman, unless you counted Sandrine's quick hug back in her flat. He crouched a bit so that he was more at Yamiko's level and hugged her back. Then they let go, but Yamiko still looked a bit worried.

"I'm really sorry, Sirius," she repeated, looking Sirius in the eye.

"That's ok," he said, but he was finding it very hard to control his emotions. Suddenly all the sadness, all the loneliness of the last years seemed to finally catch up with him, and his eyes became bright with unshed tears.

They remained silent for a moment, until Yamiko finally found the courage to speak again. "Sirius, if you don't want me to draw your mother's portrait, I..."

"No," Sirius interrupted her, shaking his head, "it's not that. I don't know, I... The memories I have of my mother won't probably help you much, but I will find you some pictures tomorrow. I have no right to throw her off her own house. I don't even want the house. If it weren't because Dumbledore needed it, I would have never come back here, and her portrait and her memory would still be intact. I'll help you as much as I can, but I don't really feel much up to talking about her."

Yamiko thought for a moment. "That's ok, I think the photographs should be enough, specially if you can find me several, so that I can compare them. Your mother herself will be able to help me too. She can talk to me while I work. That will help me get to know her a bit, so that I can capture in my painting not only her physical features, but also her personality."

"You don't really need to do this, you know. If my mother gets too nasty, just ignore her. I'll understand." Sirius said.

"Ok, I promise. I want to give it a try though. She sounded really sad, and although I have never really met her, I feel sorry for her."

"If you had known her, Miko, you wouldn't feel sorry for her, believe me."

"Maybe," Yamiko conceded, but she was sure she would have felt exactly the same. In Yamiko's opinion, nobody deserved to be trapped for eternity inside a wall.

When Sirius passed the rests of her mother portrait on his way to his room, he stopped and had a look at them. He had never stopped to look at his mother portrait since he had come back to Black Manor. True, he had confronted her many times, trying to silence her shrieks, covering her with curtains, but he had never truly looked at her face. What could he tell Miko about her? He only remembered her angry at him, shouting or punishing him for not being 'a true Black'. He wondered if the Dementors had taken the good memories he had from his mother, or if he had never had good memories of her.

Thus instead of going to bed, Sirius closed himself in her mother's old room, and spent the night looking at old pictures, desperately hoping that something good about her would come back to him, until tiredness and sadness finally overcame him, and he wept until he fell asleep on his mother's bed, with photographs of now dead people smiling sweetly at him.

*****

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Thanks for the reviews!

Thanks all for reading and reviewing!

FF.net is not working very well lately, is it? I have had problems to log in again, I hope they will solve them soon.

Oh! Poor Sirius! I felt really bad for him while writing this chapter.

Until now, the story has been very slow. I've posted 20 chapters so far and we haven't even reached Harry's birthday yet, which means we are still around mid July. Very soon time will start to "fly"! Before that, though, next chapter we are going back to Malfoy Manor to see how Amanda is doing, and I think you might be surprised... :D

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Dinsmore: I got your review when I had already updated Chapter 19, I hope you liked it too. Thanks a lot for reviewing!

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hermionegreen: Thanks, you are very kind! The dragons are Chinese Fireballs, of course. :-) You are right about "communicate", I used it with a meaning it has in Spanish, but it seems it doesn't work in English, I've already corrected it. Thanks for telling me! ;-)

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Kadi Rilla Wholi: Thank you! I wasn't sure about Chapter 19, I'm glad you liked it.

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Lupin: Don't worry, there will be action again soon, but I need some chapters of "explanations" in between, so that the story makes some sense. ;-) Edvard and Lupin didn't know each other, they have met in Yamako's house. Edvard had met Sirius before, at the beginning of the fic. Edvard and Lupin are both werewolves, that's why they immediately start to talk to each other. And of course, I'll be delighted that you link my fic to your web site. I'll send you an email anyway. Thanks!

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Starfire: Thanks! The fuocciris have been in my head for some time now, so I guess I know quite a bit about them. ;-) And in fact, the Grangers ARE in China. They all are. I haven't said it that clear in the story, but the Sams are Chinese, the dragons are Chinese Fireballs, and there is an 8 hours difference between China -or some parts at least- and England. So the hints are all there...


	21. In The Viper's Nest

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Disclaimer: The characters that look familiar to you belong to J. K. Rowling. The ones you cannot find in any of her books are mine. I don't intend to make any money out of this. I'm just having some fun.

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In The Viper's Nest

Amanda stretched luxuriously and jumped out of bed. It was a beautiful sunny morning, and she had Malfoy Manor all to herself. Narcissa and Draco had left the night before, they had been invited to spend the weekend with some friends, and although both of them would have rather stayed, social niceties had to be observed, and so they had accepted the invitation.

At the beginning Amanda had thought that maybe she could go back home for the weekend and spend some time with Sandrine and the others, but then she realised she wouldn't have many more chances of being alone in the house, and she had two whole days to try and find something _interesting_ in Malfoy Manor.

So far she had been mostly enjoying herself with Narcissa and Draco. They had cooked, and talked, and worked in the greenhouse, and sunbathed... Mmmm. Sunbathing! That was an idea!

Some time later, Amanda was already lazing in the big terrace of Malfoy Manor, wearing a yellow bikini that would have probably made her aunt's glasses fall off her nose, a cup of white coffee and some peanut cookies at her side. She was reading an amusing children's book by the Grimm Brothers, two muggle writers who had written the most hilarious stories about witches and fairies.

"Oh! I must tell Edvard about this!" She told herself, closing the book after finishing 'Little Red Riding Hood'.

She checked her skin. She was already quite tan after her sunbathing sessions with Narcissa in the morning, but she didn't want to run the risk of getting burnt, so she laid the book aside for another time and went back inside. The house was silent, but Amanda had the sensation she was being observed, followed everywhere she went. She didn't think Narcissa distrusted her, but maybe she had put some wards up, just in case someone else came while she was away -say, for instance, thieves or... aurors.

Amanda leaned on the handrail and looked downstairs from the last floor of the house. She had already checked the guest rooms, Narcissa's and Draco's. She hadn't found a thing in the kitchen nor the garden nor the greenhouse either. The sitting-room seemed to be in order too. She moved her nose unconsciously while pondering what to explore today. Maybe she should go back to the library. She knew there had to be a secret door there, because Narcissa and Lucius himself had often talked about his _study_, but they didn't seem to mean Lucius official study, so she guessed he had another one for _distinguished_ visitors. She had never found the door, though, and the Malfoys had never showed it to her. Yes, she would try to find it today.

She started descending the stairs, but stopped dead in her tracks when a loud whistle came from behind her. She turned slowly around, and glared at the portrait of Pedicurus Malfoy, 1457-1509.

"Sorry my lady," Pedicurus said. "Women in my time didn't walk around like _that_," he commented, eating Amanda with his popping eyes.

Amanda felt revolted. She rolled her eyes and turned again to go on walking downstairs, very conscious of the portrait's disgusting stare following her every move. She would make sure to tell Narcissa that she didn't like that Pedicurus in the least. Maybe they could hang him inside a small and dark cupboard or somewhere similar. She hesitated for a moment and finally decided to make a stop in her room and put on some more clothes. She took a long black shirt, and took a look at herself in the mirror.

"You look like a gypsy," the mirror uttered disgusted.

"Thanks!" Amanda smiled at the glass, and turned to go. If that snobbish mirror didn't approve of her looks, it must mean she looked quite well.

The Malfoys' library was a very big room with its 6 meter high walls covered from floor to ceiling in mahogany bookcases holding thousands of books. This room had been originally two rooms, one on top of the other. When the downstairs library turned too small to contain all the books the Malfoys possessed, Lucius' grandfather had decided to make the ceiling of the room disappear, and now the upper room only had a small corridor running along each wall to allow people get the books there. The high arched windows along the right wall let a clear and warming light come in. Amanda walked along the bookcases, running her fingers through the books and the wood, trying to find something that would open a secret door, or at least hoping to find the door itself. She stepped up the wooden ladders resting upon the bookcases in regular intervals to allow people reach the upper rows of books and reached as far as she could while balancing on the tip of her toe, looking for some gap, some hole.

Nothing. She had spent already more than two hours there, and still nothing. Amanda liked mysteries as any McGonagall should, and she promised herself she would find that room if it was the last thing she did. Maybe she could try to pray some information out of Draco and Narcissa...

She went back to the terrace -taking another staircase, to avoid Pedicurus-, and tried to clear her mind and analyse all the possibilities while she munched the tuna salad sandwich that the house-elves had brought her. Maybe the door was concealed by a secret word, or maybe it just opened for the owner of the house, or maybe you could only find it at a special time of the day... She took a sip of her butterbeer and let the refreshing liquid bathe her tongue before swallowing it. That was it, she would go downstairs after her lunch and would stay in the library as long as she had too. Maybe the change of light would reveal _something_, _anything_.

***

Four strokes in the distance. Four o'clock already! Amanda rubbed her tired eyes and laid aside the book she had been reading. She looked around. Still nothing. The book she had been reading, _Proud to be me: A Genealogy of the Malfoy Family_, had made her sleepy. At the beginning the book had been amusing. She had checked the Malfoys she knew and had found their descriptions highly distorted and very funny, but after some pages it had started to get boring.

Amanda yawned. She took off the ribbon holding her hair back and let it on the floor, and then put her feet on the armchair and made herself as comfortable as she could. The sun fell on her seat, and she felt completely relaxed. She started to dove off, and the more asleep she fell, the smaller she looked. She seemed to be shrinking. Then she suddenly sprouted whiskers, pointed ears and a furry black body. Amanda was finally asleep, a black slender cat in the middle of the green armchair.

***

The grass was green and cool, and the black cat was dreaming that she was chasing butterflies. Jumping now and again trying to catch one, but the beautiful insects just battled their colourful wings at her and flew higher, out of her reach.

Suddenly the fields disappeared, and the cat was sitting on someone's lap. The chair was close to a fireplace, and the flames danced merrily in front of her. A hand caressed her smooth fur and then scratched her behind the ears. Oh, that was bliss! She remembered that sensation too well. Mother petted her in the evenings, before going to sleep, singing to her beautiful lullabies. She had got used to sleep as a cat on those distant nights, and since then, when her worries wouldn't let her sleep, Amanda would turn into a cat and try to get some rest.

Then the shouting started. They were coming. She knew it. She could feel the dark magic in the air. She knew what would happen. Her mother would tell her to hide and then those horrible men would come in wearing their masks. Footsteps. Footsteps coming closer. They were there. They were there! Mum!

The cat awoke with a start. Two men were standing there, one of them kneeling in front of her, caressing her fur, the other one standing to her right, speaking to the other man, almost shouting. Amanda spat angrily at him. He had awaken her! Why couldn't he speak lower, couldn't he see she was sleeping?

The man looked at the cat and catching it by the collar threw it to the floor.

Amanda spat like mad and turned back into a woman before hitting the floor.

"What do you think you are doing? Show some manners!" She said, and slapped the man across the face, living four scratches in his cheek that immediately started to bleed. She then retreated some steps.

Both men looked astounded at her. The one who had been caressing the cat recovered first. The other took his hand to his bleeding cheek, still gaping.

"Please, accept my apologies, Madam, we didn't mean to interrupt your nap," the first man said in a silky voice, standing and bowing slightly.

"I didn't mean you," Amanda said politely, and then she turned to glare at the other man, "I meant _you_."

"Sorry, I wasn't aware you weren't a real cat..." The man tried to apologise.

"So? What does it matter if I was a real cat or not? What gives you the right to abuse animals?"

The man didn't answer, but Amanda saw him fingering nervously something shiny hanging from his belt. An axe!

"Don't tell me, you must be McNair, am I right?" Amanda asked.

McNair looked absolutely pleased that such a beautiful woman would know his name.

"At you service, Madam," he said, bowing.

Amanda charged like a bull and put a finger menacingly on his chest. "I don't like people who execute defenceless creatures. Try not to cross my path too much, McNair, or you might find that axe stuck in your ass."

McNair looked aghast at Amanda's reaction. So much for his hopes of impressing her.

"And you are?" Amanda asked the other man, with an eyebrow raised in a way that let them know she was the boss there.

"Severus Snape," the man answered, a little bit annoyed now, "and you are?" he asked, mimicking her.

Amanda narrowed her eyes in annoyance. "Amanda Ming," she said. "I'm a friend of the Malfoys."

"We thought there was nobody at home," McNair said.

"You were obviously wrong," Amanda said, glaring at him. "And my I ask, why did you come, if you thought that there would be nobody?"

The two men looked at each other.

"We are friends of the Malfoys too," Snape explained. "Mrs. Malfoy invited us and some other friends to come any time we wanted to."

"And you decided to come when she wasn't here? That's not very nice, don't you think?"

"Don't get me wrong," Snape said, trying to remember his good manners. "We didn't know for sure when we would arrive because we had some... business we needed to attend, but we talked to Mrs. Malfoy a few hours ago at the house of a common friend, and we informed her we would be here when she came back. She didn't mention you were here, though."

"I don't like Death Eaters..." Amanda said, but stopped to roll her eyes when she saw both men gaping at her. "Yes, I know you are Death Eaters, I can feel the Dark Mark on your skins. As I was saying, I don't like your lot, so I told Narcissa I had the intention of avoiding you all as much as I could when you came. She probably thought I would see you coming and stay in my room, which I would have done if I hadn't fallen asleep here. And now, if you'll excuse me."

Amanda stepped around the two men and walked stiffly to the door, but it opened before she could reach it, and in came another man, this one smaller than her -or maybe it was that he walked a little bit bent-, balding and with watery nervous eyes that immediately swept the room. Through the open door, Amanda could see more people standing in the foyer. She turned to the other two men and asked shocked:

"How many of you are coming?"

"Some," Snape replied shortly.

Amanda glared at him as if she wanted him to melt on the spot. Then turned and left the room with a quick step. She didn't stop at the hall -although she could feel everybody turning to look at her-, and instead went straight to her room and closed the door with a bang.

"So much for my free time to explore the house!" She shouted in anger.

She turned to her right and suddenly saw her reflection on the mirror.

"Oh, no!" She was still wearing her bikini, no wonder the men had stared at her like that.

***

Downstairs, the three men in the library were still trying to recover from the shock. The one that had come in last, and who was none other than the rat Peter Pettigrew, approached his other two companions.

"Who was that? What is she doing here?" He asked worried.

"A friend of Mrs. Malfoy," Snape said. "A very bad-tempered one."

"She scratched me!" McNair said, as if it wasn't obvious.

"That will show you to be more careful around supposedly defenceless animals, McNair," Snape said amused. Pettigrew had to agree -although he didn't dare show it-, McNair had killed too many rats who had been his friends, just for his amusement.

McNair glared at Snape. He then took his wand and tried to heel his cheek with it. It stung a lot. It shouldn't have. He grimaced. Snape and Pettigrew were looking at him with a suddenly serious face. Pettigrew looked a bit scared, Snape intrigued.

"Let me see that, McNair," he said, and grabbed the man's chin to make him turn his head to the side. The scratches had closed and stopped bleeding, by they could still be clearly seen in his skin. The heeling spell should have made them disappear completely. Scratches were never a problem if you had a wand.

"Have you had problems with your wand lately, any spells that didn't work, anything strange?" Snape asked.

"No." McNair replied. "What is it? It stings. Is the wound still open?"

"No, it's closed," Snape answered, half to himself. "I don't know why, but the scratches haven't disappeared, though. Maybe she had been touching something poisonous before falling asleep. This looks quite bad. I think you will wear this mark for the rest of your life."

"What? You must be joking!" McNair exclaimed.

Snape raised his eyebrows. "_When_ have I _ever_ joked, McNair?"

"A mirror! I need a mirror!" McNair said, and left the room quickly, with a hand on his scarred cheek.

***

Amanda was sitting on her bed, hugging her knees, looking out of the window and cursing her bad luck. Of all the days the Death Eaters could have chosen to come to Malfoy Manor, it had to be today. Maybe she should have gone home for the weekend after all, with so many people in the house, she wouldn't be able to explore much anyway. Maybe she could still leave... No, that wasn't wise. The Death Eaters would think she was scared of them, and she would have to face them when she came back anyway. She had a mission. She had to stay at the Malfoys for the summer.

What worried her the most was that the Death Eaters were far too many. She had expected two or three, but there were at least fifteen. If they were to attack her, they would be too many for her. She'd better keep a low profile until Narcissa and Draco came back. The Death Eaters wouldn't dare harm her in front of the hostess of the house.

A sudden knock startled her out of her musings.

"Who's there?" She asked, a little bit more sharp than she had intended.

"Snape," came the silky reply.

Amanda thought for a moment. She didn't dare open the door. What if he wasn't alone? She stood in front of the door and waved her hand at it, suddenly the door seemed to be made of clear water instead of wood. Snape was obviously impressed, but not as much as she had expected.

He looked Amanda in the eye. "May I ask to what caste of ashanriis do you belong?"

Amanda couldn't avoid a look of surprise. It angered her that this man had been able to surprise her. "What makes you think I am an ashanrii?"

"I've met some before," Snape replied smoothly.

Amanda took a deep breath, trying to sound less annoyed. "I'm a jilguerei. Is that what you came to ask?"

"No, I came to tell you that my friend's face is not healing... properly. I thought you might have been touching something poisonous before we came. I happen to know that the Malfoys have poisoned the covers of some books, to protect them from an unauthorised use. I was worried that you would poison yourself unawares."

"How nice of you to worry," Amanda said haughtily.

"Of course, I know now I shouldn't have worried. You probably poisoned the wound on purpose, didn't you?"

Amanda put her better look of superiority. "Yes, I did."

"Isn't that too hard a punishment for McNair's slight fault?"

"Slight fault? You think almost strangling me with that big hand and throwing me in the air is a slight fault?" She said, breathing rapidly in anger, trying not to shout.

"Doing that to a cat yes, I think it's a slight fault," Snape said silkily and perfectly calm.

"I am a woman, in case you haven't noticed it yet," Amanda said. It was costing her a big effort to control her voice.

"I have. Believe it or not, Death Eaters can appreciate beauty too. But you weren't a woman when my friend grabbed you."

"And Death Eaters don't know that animagi exist?" Amanda chose to ignore the man's compliment.

"We thought the house was empty," Snape insisted.

"And that gives you the right to harm any being in it? Animals or house-elves?"

Snape let go a tired breath and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "This conversation is going nowhere and I have more important things to do. I came to make sure you wouldn't hurt yourself accidentally, but it's obvious you can take care of yourself pretty well, so, if you'll excuse me..." He bowed slightly and turned on his heels before Amanda could answer. She stayed there, fuming silently for a couple of minutes more, before waving her hand once more to restore the door to its original shape.

***

The rays of the sun awoke Amanda in the morning. She looked at the clock: barely seven. She had a terrible headache and felt very weak. Of course, that might very well be because the day before she had only eaten a sandwich and some biscuits, and then her worries wouldn't let her sleep until late at night.

She went to the attached toilet and washed her face. She took a look at herself in the mirror. She looked awful. Wonderful!

She took a quick shower, got dressed, and went downstairs silently, hoping the Death Eaters would be still sleeping and she wouldn't have to meet anyone. She could have summoned the house-elves to bring her some food, but she wasn't going to stay all day in her room like a prisoner. She would avoid the Death Eaters as much as she could, but the house was big enough, no need to stay hidden. She could eat something in the kitchen, take some books, and go up to the terrace, to work for a while. Since she had come, she had only spent a few hours on her research, and she had intended to work at least three or four hours a day.

Amanda had said at work that she wanted to take a sabbatical year to do some independent research. Her boss had been very interested. Amanda was a very efficient worker, and thus her boss had agreed to go on paying her the usual wage if at the end of that year she would give the lab the rights over her work. That had been excellent for her, because it allowed her to have free time to work for the Order, but still get some money. She had some savings, but she'd rather not touch them, just in case there was an emergency. It wouldn't do to go back to the lab and have nothing to give them now.

"Good morning!" She said in entering the kitchen, and she smiled at the house-elves, already working. Did they ever sleep?

The house-elves smiled back and bowed.

"Good morning," someone said from her left. Amanda turned shocked, she didn't expect to find anyone in the kitchen. "I see you seem to be in a better mood today," Snape said, nodding haughtily. He was sitting at the kitchen table, reading the _Sunday Prophet_ and eating some cereals.

"My good mood has suddenly disappeared when I've seen you," Amanda replied in anger. "What is a Death Eater doing in a kitchen? Wouldn't you rather be brought breakfast to your room?"

"Are you offering to do it?"

Amanda clenched her jaw. The nerve of the man!

"Miss Mandy will have the same as always?" A house-elf asked, approaching her timidly.

Amanda fought to control her anger. She looked down at the elf with a forced smile on her face.

"Yes, please," she said.

The house-elf bowed and moved the chair in front of Snape a little bit back, waiting for Amanda to sit. She doubted for a moment, but finally decided she wasn't going to give the man the satisfaction of knowing that he had offended her. She sat gracefully, looking daggers at Snape all the way.

Another house-elf came running with two cups, one full of dark coffee, the other with white coffee.

"Your coffee, sir," he said, and levitated the black coffee to Snape's hand.

"Thank you, Kreacher," Snape replied politely.

Amanda was quite shocked. One of Lucius' 'friends' addressing a house-elf politely! That had to be a first.

She took her cup and drank some coffee. She felt much better immediately. She studied Snape over the rim of her cup. He had chosen to ignore her and had gone on reading the newspaper. Amanda smiled mischievously at herself. He wanted to read, did he? Well, he was going to have his fun spoiled.

"You are very nice to house-elves for a Death Eater," Amanda said, feigning a pleasant smile.

Snape looked up from the newspaper. "You are quite annoying considering you are a friend of Narcissa's."

Amanda's smile faded immediately. Snape raised an eyebrow at her, daring her to retort.

Amanda took the knife and started buttering a toast as if she wished she was spreading acid on Snape's nose. And she would need a large quantity of acid too, because the man had a very big nose.

She ignored Snape and summoned her quill and some parchment. She started scratching some notes while she ate, and immediately forgot about the man sitting in front of her as she immersed herself in her work. She was making a list of the concepts she wanted to check in the Malfoys' library, she was sure there was quite a collection of herbology books there. She might as well search for some information on a couple of ingredients Michel wanted to try to add to the Wolfsbane Potion. She reread her list while biting her quill, her toast forgotten half-eaten in her other hand and her coffee getting cold.

Snape studied her above the newspaper. She looked absolutely beautiful like that, lost in thought. Her face was relaxed, and she kept wrinkling her nose in concentration without noticing.

Amanda scrawled some more words on the parchment, finished her toast in two bites and drank half her coffee in one gulp. Then she rose, taking the parchment and the quill in one hand and the cup in the other, and left the kitchen without a backwards glance at Snape.

She headed straight for the library. The morning light gave it a welcoming glow. She let the cup on a small table, stood in the middle of the room and closed her eyes in concentration.

"Show me all the books that contain the word 'adelphia'," she said out loud. The library reacted to her command and the books she was looking for stood out of the rest. Amanda opened her eyes and looked around. She counted at least seven volumes, maybe some more in the upper floor. She summoned them all to the big table in the middle of the room, brought her cup to it, and started working immediately. The terrace could wait.

Three hours later, Amanda finally stopped reading and writing, and rubbed her eyes. She marked a couple of pages she found specially interesting and then waved the books back to their original position.

She summoned a house-elf. "Could you please bring me another white coffee?" The house-elf nodded and hurried away. He was back before Amanda had had time to decide what to look for next.

She repeated the same procedure with another concept and went on working. She could hear voices now and then outside the room. The Death Eaters were already waking up. Nobody came in to disturb her, though.

Around one o'clock, Amanda left the chair to pick a book from the upper rows. She could have summoned it, but she wanted to stretch her legs a bit too, she had been sitting in the same position all morning. She stepped up the wooden ladder and reached for the book. It was too far away, she couldn't reach it. Amanda tried to get the book for the last time. She stood on the tip of her left toe and took both hands out of the ladder. She lost balance, and fell with a cry, but she never reached the floor. She had covered her face with her hands instinctively, but when the crash didn't come, she looked around. She was floating in mid-air. Just inside the doorway of the library stood Snape, his wand raised at her.

Amanda would have thanked him heartily if he had been anybody else, but she couldn't thank _him_, so instead she put an annoying look and commanded:

"Put me down!"

Snape raised his eyebrow, and then turned his face a little bit, putting his free hand behind his ear, as if he couldn't hear what she was saying.

Amanda was beyond herself with fury.

"I said put me down," she commanded, in the same tone of voice.

"I didn't hear you say the magic word," Snape said. "I'm sure a well-educated jilguerei as you must be able to pronounce the word 'please'."

Amanda tried to free herself from his spell. She'd rather fall the rest of the way than take lessons on good manners from a Death Eater, she could almost touch the floor anyway.

"PUT ME DOWN!" She shouted angrily.

"Say 'please'," Snape demanded placidly.

"NO!"

"Say 'please'," Snape insisted.

"I WON'T!" Amanda shouted, mad with fury.

"Very well, as you wish," Snape said. He waved his wand, but didn't put Amanda on the floor, he just let her fall. Amanda hit her left hip and her left elbow, and cried out in pain.

Snape approached her and stood towering over her. "Come on, it can't be that bad, you were almost touching the floor."

Amanda was trying hard to control her tears. It was true that she had been hovering only inches from the floor, but she hadn't been prepared for the fall, and had end up sprawled in a bad position. She tried to sit, but she couldn't. Snape offered her his hand. Amanda looked at him with such hate in her eyes that he doubted for a moment, but then insisted once more.

"Here, let me help you. Take my arm."

"Leave me alone!" Amanda said.

Snape was loosing his temper. He kneeled and tried to scoop Amanda in his arms.

Amanda kicked him with her healthy leg and arm. "GET YOUR HANDS OFF ME!" She shouted.

"What's going on in here?"

Snape stood as if bitten by a viper. Narcissa Malfoy was standing on the doorway, looking indignantly at the scene in front of her. She almost flew to Amanda's side and kneeled beside her.

"Severus, I didn't expect something like this from you," she said, giving Snape an angry look. "Leave us alone!"

Snape didn't say a word. He nodded curtly at Narcissa and left the room.

"Oh, dear," Narcissa said, hugging Amanda.

"Issa," she said, and started sobbing on her friend's shoulder, not so much for the pain, but for the humiliation and the anger at not being obeyed by Snape. As a jilguerei, the least she had expected was a little bit of deference from a wizard.

***

"Severus?"

Snape had confirmed once more his suspicion that cauldrons were much more easy to understand than women, so he had closed himself in the Malfoys' dungeons and had started working. Madam Pomfrey had asked him to try and lessen the side-effects of the Dreamless Sleep Potion, basically the addiction aspect. That was something that interested him a lot personally too, because he depended a lot on that potion. Sleeping during the years of the Dark Lord's disappearance was difficult enough, but now that he had recovered his power and Severus found himself working as a Death Eater again he couldn't sleep without it. He had been working there for a couple of hours when Narcissa Malfoy came looking for him.

"Yes?" He said looking at her with a blank expression.

Narcissa stepped inside the room and closed the door behind her. She wrung her hands nervously. "I... I wanted to apologise for shouting at you earlier. I should have known better than to think you had attacked a woman. I know you are a true gentleman, Severus, but I only heard Amanda shouting at you, and saw you trying to take her in your arms, and I thought you..."

Snape didn't say a word, he just looked at the floor and back at Narcissa.

"I'm sorry," she said, "Amanda told me it had been all her fault, that you had only tried to help, that you actually saved her when she fell from the ladder. She told me she was so angry at herself for loosing her balance like that... that she took her anger out on you. She asked me to tell you she's sorry, and hopes you'll excuse her bad temper."

"How is she?" Snape asked, in a neutral tone.

"Fine, her arm is working perfectly, her hip still hurts a bit, you know it's a difficult bone to heal. I rubbed some ointment on it and she says it doesn't hurt so much anymore. It hurts when she tries to walk, though, so I told her to stay up in her room. She was reading when I left her."

Narcissa remained silent for a moment, but Snape didn't seem to care. He went on stirring the contents in the cauldron.

"Maybe you could keep an eye of her for me?" She asked tentatively.

Snape looked at her utterly surprise. "Pardon me?"

"I have to go back to the Goyles, Draco is still there. I just came to make sure you had everything you needed..."

"And to check that we hadn't hurt Miss Ming," Snape finished for her.

Narcissa smiled at him. "Yes. Sorry about that. I know you wouldn't hurt Amanda, but I'm sure some of those guys Lucius and you associate with can be really nasty."

"You are right, Narcissa, no need to apologise."

"So, would you keep an eye on her? Draco and I should be back this evening or tomorrow morning. I don't trust her to stay in her room for so long. She can be very stubborn, and she doesn't like spending a lot of time between four walls, unless she is working."

"I will," Severus said, "but I cannot promise you I will be able to control her."

"I guess not, she can be a bit temperamental at times."

Snape thought 'a bit temperamental' was the understatement of the year. "I'll do my best," he assured her.

"Thanks," she said, and kissed his cheek.

Snape felt very uncomfortable, he hadn't been kissed by a friend in many years.

***

In the afternoon, Snape walked slowly upstairs. He wasn't sure Amanda would welcome him, but he had promised Narcissa he would keep a eye on her, and it was going to be difficult if he stayed in the dungeons all day. He took a deep breath and knocked firmly.

"Come in!"

He opened the door slowly and waited in the doorway, with his hand on the doorknob, until Amanda turned. She was sitting with her back to him, in front of the window. She finally turned. When she saw Snape, she turned a little bit pink and tried to stand. He hurried to her side.

"Don't!" He ordered, and then checked himself. "You shouldn't walk yet," he said in a less commanding voice.

Amanda sat again.

"I came to check if you needed something," Severus said.

Amanda signalled to a chair that had suddenly appeared behind Snape. He sat a little bit stiffly.

"I wanted to apologise," Amanda said. "You probably saved my life before, and all I did was shout at you and give you orders instead of thanking you. My behaviour was.. very childish. I don't usually behave like that. I guess I was a little bit nervous. I had had a bad night, I was tired because of lack of sleep and because I had been working all morning, and then I was scared that a moment ago I had almost killed myself. I'm sorry." Amanda extended her right hand as a truce offer. Snape barely touched the tip of her fingers and then, to the girl's surprise, kissed her hand briefly. Amanda blushed.

"Apologies accepted," Snape said solemnly.

Then there was an awkward pause. Severus Snape wasn't very good at socialising, but he knew he should probably say something. His eyes went to the book resting on Amanda's lap. The pages seemed to be full of colourful drawings.

"What were you reading?" He finally asked.

Amanda smiled. "The Grimm Brothers' Fairytales," she said, "they are very funny. There are some about witches, and wolves that talk... It's amazing what these muggles came up with. I wonder if maybe they knew some wizards or something."

Snape raised his eyebrows, intrigued and amused at the same time, but he couldn't find anything else to say, he didn't know much about muggle writers.

"What about your friends?" Amanda asked.

"My friends?" Snape asked confused.

"The other Death Eaters," Amanda explained.

"Oh, well, I don't think 'friends' would be the right word to describe them. I've reached a kind of amicable understanding with some of them, but most of them are just 'co-workers', so to say."

Amanda nodded.

"They are gone. They just wanted to leave their things here, because they'll be coming back soon, but for now they had to leave. Businesses," he said, uncompromisingly.

"And you stayed." Amanda stated.

"Yes, I'm on holidays now, so I have some free time. Narcissa asked me to stay some days. She thinks Lucius would feel better if he knew I was looking over her and Draco."

"I'm sure he would," Amanda said approvingly.

"Probably," Severus agreed, "but I doubt very much my presence here is really needed. I have the feeling you are a good protection enough."

"Thanks," Amanda said frowning, "I guess."

Severus couldn't help but laugh, though with some difficulty, his throat wasn't used to laughter any more. "You are welcome," he said.

There was another awkward silence after that. Amanda looked at her hands and Severus out of the window. He was the one to finally brake the silence.

"I took your notes to my room. You left them in the library and I thought the house-elves could throw them away thinking they weren't useful anymore."

"Thank you."

Snape cleared his throat. "I took a look, I hope you don't mind. Some words caught my eye... May I ask if you are working on the Wolfsbane Potion?"

"Yes," Amanda said surprised.

"Yes, I may ask, or yes, you are working on it?"

"Both," Amanda said, rolling her eyes.

"I've had some experience myself with the Wolfsbane Potion. Do you follow Vladimir Popinski's recipe or Magdalena Lasalle's?

That got them into a long and productive discussion about Wolfsbane, and from there they easily moved to other potions and ingredients. At some point, Snape interrupted their heated debate to summon the house-elves to bring them some dinner. They ate some salad followed by some cheese with toasts, and took some red wine. At one o'clock in the morning, Snape felt he shouldn't stay any longer in Amanda's room. If someone were to find him there so late at night, it could arouse some unfounded suspicions. People didn't seem to understand that a man and a woman could simply enjoy each other's conversation without having any further interest. So he emptied his glass of wine -they were on their second bottle by now- and said:

"Much as I'm enjoying this conversation, I'm afraid I'm robbing you of a most needed rest. Your hip will probably recover much faster if you sleep some hours."

"Oh." Amanda looked a bit put out. "Of course, it must be quite late."

Snape took off his chain clock and showed it to her. Amanda gasped. "Is it really so late?"

"I'm afraid so," he confirmed, standing to go.

"Severus..." Both Amanda and Snape wondered at that moment when had they started to be on a first name basis, they hadn't even realised until now. "Thanks for your company. I really didn't deserve it after behaving so badly before...".

Snape reached over and put a finger on her lips to silence her. "I thought we had agreed that we had both behaved like children and that we wanted to forget about it all and start anew," he said.

Amanda nodded silently.

"Very well, goodnight then," he said, and kissed her hand before finally turning and leaving her.

When Snape closed the door, Amanda caressed the hand he had kissed, and then her lips, where his finger had rested. For a moment she really regretted that he had left, but immediately shook herself.

"Amanda, please, what were you thinking? He is a Death Eater, remember?" She said aloud, and laughed at her silliness. She had to admit she didn't remember having spent such a wonderful evening with another man before. They seemed to have a lot of interests in common, and Severus was really clever, there was no doubt about that. They didn't agree in everything, in fact, they disagreed in almost everything, but that made their conversation more interesting. They had each defended their point of view wisely and had justified their opinions. In the end, they had each held to their original ideas, but that didn't diminish the enjoyment in their discussion.

And he was rather good looking too. Ok, he wasn't a handsome man, someone whose beauty you could appreciate at first sight. But on closer inspection... he had a very... gentleman-like appearance. Oh, did that sound affected! 'Gentleman-like appearance.' Amanda laughed again and then shook her head. Why was she thinking about the man? He was a Death Eater, end of the question. She couldn't be attracted to him, Death Eaters were despicable and she could never feel attracted to one of them. No way.

She tried to think about other things while she changed into her nightdress and brushed her hair. Like the fact that her hip didn't hurt anymore, or the things she planned to do the following day, or what she could buy Draco for his birthday...

When she finally went to bed, she felt relaxed as she hadn't been for a very long time. That night she dreamt of princesses in enchanted castles who were rescued by valiant and handsome princes, and even while asleep, a happy smile illuminated her beautiful face.

*****

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Thanks for the reviews!

Thanks all for reading and reviewing!

Well, well, well, dear Amanda has met our favourite Potions Master. :D We'll come back to Malfoy Manor in a couple of chapters.

In the following chapter, we'll go back to Yamiko's house, and we'll visit a fuocciri village. Harry will be much more interested in the outskirts of the village, though. ;-)

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Makalani Astral: I got your review when I had already updated Chapter 20, so I'm answering you now. First of all, thanks for reviewing. I wanted to tell you something: don't trust in my good intentions too much, I can be evil when I want to. :D I'm glad you enjoyed Edvard and Lupin's conversation.

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Kadi Rilla Wholi: Thanks for your review. Yes, you are right, poor Sirius! I'll make it up to him soon, although I must admit things don't look too right for him yet... ;-) 

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hermionegreen: Mrs. Black's new portrait is certainly going to be very different, but I'm not sure Sirius will like the new Mrs. Black much better. :D And thanks for reviewing, I'm glad you liked the chapter.

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Lady Arwen of Rivendell: Hi! Thanks for your review. I'm glad to hear from you again. I'm afraid that Irish IS a language. It's a form of Gaelic, and it's still spoken in Ireland, although not by many people -I'm not an expert on the subject, so everybody excuse me if I'm mistaken. There is literature written in Irish and you can even learn Irish on the Internet! Maybe I should have said Irish Gaelic, I'm not sure... Oh, and we'll get the OWL results the 31st of July, because Harry usually gets his letter from Hogwarts together with Hagrid's birthday present.

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Iniysa: Thanks a lot for reviewing! I'm glad you are enjoying my fic. Hope you liked this chapter too.


	22. Bantu

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Disclaimer: The characters that look familiar to you belong to J. K. Rowling. The ones you cannot find in any of her books are mine. I don't intend to make any money out of this. I'm just having some fun.

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Bantu

Harry and Ron went to the Sams' kitchen to have some breakfast. After some days, they had got used to the new location of Black Manor and agreed that it was for the best. Now they didn't need to stay all of the time inside Headquarters, they could visit Yamiko or even stay outside, enjoying the warm morning sun. Since Lestrange had burned Harry's Firebolt and also Ron's broom, they couldn't play Quidditch, but Yamiko let them mount her dragons sometimes, and it was really exciting. Dragons flew very fast, much faster than Hippogriffs or Thestrals, but Harry still preferred brooms. He felt he couldn't really control animals, and was always fearing he would fall and break his neck.

When they entered the kitchen, Lupin was already there, having some tea and reading a parchment.

"Good morning!" He greeted them with a smile.

"Morning," Harry and Ron grunted, they were still too sleepy to smile.

"Ready to go for a walk?" Lupin asked amused.

"A walk? Where to?" Harry asked surprised.

"Yamiko is going to take us to the nearest village, she said it's an ashanrii village, no muggles there, and only very few wizards. It could be fun," Lupin said.

"Cool!" said both Harry and Ron at the same time, grinning from ear to ear.

"Are you sure we are allowed to come?" Harry asked, suddenly doubtful.

"Yes," Remus answered, "in fact, I think we are all going. We shouldn't be in danger there, we'll be surrounded by fuocciris, Voldemort wouldn't dare attack us there."

"Why didn't you tell us yesterday?" Ron asked.

"It's a last minute decision," Lupin explained, "Yamiko wants to go to the village to buy some things, so she thought it would be a good opportunity to show us around a bit. She says we could go to the village anytime we want to, she can send her dragons with us as a protection, although we wouldn't probably need it."

"Do you mean we would be walking around a village escorted by dragons? Wouldn't the people panic?" Ron asked.

Lupin thought for a moment. "Well... we didn't really speak about the details. Today Yamiko is coming with us, so we don't need the dragons. We can ask her whenever we decide to go there alone."

"Tomorrow?" Harry asked, grinning.

Lupin laughed, but Ron had to agree with Harry. Why not go every day?

"Maybe you won't find the village so interesting," Edvard said, coming into the kitchen and taking a seat next to Lupin. "Fuocciri villages aren't really that special," he said, buttering some toast now, "once you get used to the fuocciris' beauty, there is really nothing much to see in Samrai." Edvard noticed amused that everybody was waiting for him to add something else. "Samrai is the name of the village we are going to visit, and it's one of the oldest fuocciri colonies still inhabited."

"Samrai?" Lupin asked. "Is that the reason Yamiko and Samako's surname is Sam? Because they were born here?"

Edvard looked speechless for a moment. "No, not really, but that was a really good guess. The truth is that the village is named after the Sams, since it was founded by one of Yamiko and Samako's ancestors many centuries ago."

"Is their family so old?" Sirius asked from the doorway. He had come in just in time to hear Edvard's last words.

"Older," Edvard explained. "Kwan-yin Sam was one of the three first fuocciris that ever existed. The legend says that three beautiful and powerful women were born out of a fallen star in the night of the Summer Solstice, many years ago. They were protected and nourished by dragons. As children, the three sisters played and learned together. When they grew up, they decided to follow separate paths and see the world, and promised to come back in a year, to tell their sisters what they had seen. When they came back, two of them were pregnant: Kwan-yin and Kwei-mei. The third sister, La-may, had fallen in love with a man too, but the man hadn't returned the feeling, and she felt very unhappy, specially after seeing her sisters had been luckier. To console her, the other two sisters decided to give her part of her powers as a compensation, and since then, the descendants of that sister, who did have children some years later, have been Princesses of the fuocciris, while the descendants of Kwan-yin and Kwei-mei are bounded by blood to defend the life of the Princess and follow her rules."

"So all the fuocciris are sisters, in a sense?" Sirius asked.

"No, not really." Edvard said. "You must bear in mind this is all a legend, we don't really know how the first fuocciris were born. Probably just by chance, like a wizard who is born to muggle parents."

"Like Hermione," Ron said.

"Exactly," Edvard agreed. "The legend says that many stars have fallen from heaven through the years, and from each of them, at least one fuocciri was born, usually more. That way, other families began."

Everybody was so lost in Edvard's words, that they hadn't heard Sandrine coming downstairs. Thus, they all turned at the same time when the orange jar clinked against Sandrine's glass.

"Sorry!" She said sheepishly, "I didn't mean to interrupt."

They all stared at her. She looked absolutely astounding. She was wearing a soft green kimono embroidered with gold and had her hair up in a tight bun. Edvard smiled amused, he was used to Sandrine's effect on people, specially on men. Until today they had only seen her tired, with dark circles under her eyes and usually wearing muggle clothes. Sandrine looked much better in ashanrii clothes, no doubt about that.

Sandrine seemed not to notice that everybody's attention was on her and busied herself preparing some coffee. Then they could hear Mrs. Weasley coming, talking animatedly with Yamiko.

"Dear, you look wonderful!" Molly told Sandrine, and every men in the room immediately muttered a distracted 'yes'.

"Thank you," Sandrine smiled brightly. "Yamiko's present," she added, meaning the dress.

Mrs. Weasley looked with rounded eyes at Yamiko and nodded appreciatively, to show she liked her taste very much.

"And are you wearing it for a special reason?" Molly asked.

"Several!" Sandrine laughed. "In the first place, because it's the first weekend I'm not working in a very long time, and that's a good reason to celebrate. And then because this evening we are going to pick Mr. Lupin's students..." she said, smiling at Remus, "and my godson Neville is coming with them."

"You are Neville's godmother?" Ron asked astounded. He wished he had a godmother like that!

"Kind of," Sandrine replied, shaking her head a bit/with a tosh of her head, "I am, in the ashanrii way, which means I'm really his guardian."

"But you didn't come to the Ministry of Magic when he was attacked by Bellatrix the night Sirius... died," Harry finished awkwardly.

Sandrine's smile faded, and her eyes were round with shock for a moment.

"Harry!" Sirius reprimanded him.

Harry hadn't mean to accuse Sandrine of negligence, he was just wondering why she hadn't come to protect Neville, but she had saved Sirius' life, when she didn't even know him.

"It's ok," Sandrine said raising a hand to calm Sirius, "Harry is right, I should have been there. I guess the Ministry is protected with so many wards, that I didn't sense Neville was in danger. And then I was sleeping too at the time, which probably lessened my perceptiveness. With Sirius it was different, the moment he died, he wasn't any more in the Ministry, strictly speaking, so I could feel his spirit fading away. That's the reason I helped a total stranger and failed to protect, Neville, which I guess is what you were referring to, Harry."

"I didn't mean to offend you, Sandrine," Harry said looking at the table, "sorry."

"Oh, that's ok!" Sandrine replied cheerfully once more. "I'll just put some poison into your pumpkin juice tomorrow, and everything will be forgotten," she announced, putting a very comically serious face. Harry chanced a small smile, and Sandrine winked at him.

"Well, are you all ready?" Yamiko asked, trying to change the subject. "Where is Hermione?"

"Reading a book in the library," Sirius said.

Harry and Ron rolled their eyes. They had thought for once they had waken up before Hermione, but it seemed they were wrong.

"Ok, we'll meet in five minutes in the front door, if that's ok with you, and then we can leave," Yamiko proposed. There was a series of nods, and then people scattered.

***

Samrai was a small village formed by exactly six streets that criss-crossed in the middle, where a big square united them all. This circular square was the most crowded place any of them had ever seen, even more than Diagon Alley the week preceding the start of the school year. There was a big market in the centre, where they could see a bit of everything: food, perfumes, clothes... The air was full of intoxicating smells and the voices of the busy people, selling or buying, sounded like a carnival. Everything was full of brilliant colours, and the animated life in the square made them all feel suddenly happier, as if their worries and fears weren't so important anymore.

"We will split here," Yamiko proposed, "this way everyone will have time to look around and buy anything that might interest them. See that small blue house there on the corner?" Yamiko asked, pointing in the direction of the house. "We'll meet there for lunch, say at one o'clock? There is a clock in the town-hall, which is that big maroon house just on the other side of the square, can you see it?" Everybody nodded.

"Very well," Yamiko said, "before we split though, I want you to have a piece of this. It's a magical pastry made by my people. It will allow you to understand Chinese and will let the people here understand what you say in English for a while, so that you can do your dealings. It's not perfect, and sometimes you'll have to use body language to help you express what you mean, but it's a great help nevertheless. Just keep it in your pocket, and take a bite before speaking to someone. A tiny bit should be enough. Don't eat it all at the same time, because then you'll only be able to speak for a while, and you'll have none left in case you want to speak to someone else later."

Everybody listened attentively at Yamiko's instructions.

"Now, I'm going to buy some food with Sandrine. There are more shops on the streets, but the better ones have a stand here in the central market. You can use wizard or muggle money. We accept all sorts. You can wander the streets without fear, there is nothing dangerous in Samrai. If you see some dragons or other magical creatures, just ignore them, sometimes people let their pets out for a walk, but they won't attack you if you don't attack them first."

They all nodded to show that they understood, and then they all split.

***

Mrs. Weasley joined Yamiko and Sandrine, and insisted on paying for part of the food. Yamiko and Sandrine rejected her offer politely.

"Don't worry, Molly," Sandrine said, "we don't usually _pay_ much anyway."

Mrs. Weasley didn't quite understand Sandrine, but after a while she started to see what she had meant. It was obvious that Yamiko Sam was a very respected personality in Samrai. Many people would bow at her respectfully, or even approach them to talk with her, while Sandrine and Molly waited patiently a few steps behind. But then there were many people who brought Yamiko big baskets filled with fresh fruits and vegetables, meat of all sorts and other basic ingredients, like rice or noodles. Yamiko clapped her hands once and immediately one of her dragons appeared at her side to carry the presents.

While Yamiko talked with the people who approached her, Sandrine would whisper in Mrs. Weasley's ear to inform her of who they were: neighbours, relatives, friends, parents of Yamiko's students...

In some cases, Yamiko would bow first, which Mrs. Weasley deduced was because the other person had a higher rank in the ashanrii society than her. And once, Yamiko kissed another woman's cheek after bowing.

"This woman is one of Yamiko's older cousins," Sandrine explained, "her daughter, the young girl standing at her side, is the girl Yamiko is mentoring now."

"I think I remember them from the meeting with Princess Yokiro," Mrs. Weasley said.

"Probably," Sandrine agreed, "Yamiko's cousin is part of the Princess escort, and her daughter, as Yamiko's apprentice, is allowed to join the escort too."

"So, she is not usually part of the escort?"

"No, she is too young yet for that," Sandrine explained.

"And what about the presents? Why does everybody give Yamiko so many things?" Mrs. Weasley asked.

"Oh, for different reasons," Sandrine said. "Some of them want to thank her for teaching their daughters, because Yamiko is a very respected teacher. She has been teaching since she was 14 years old, she is the youngest fuocciri teacher ever, and many people want her to teach her children, so the ones lucky enough to have that honour, always want to thank her. The ashanriis education is completely for free, the school provides even the books, so the parents don't spend money on their daughters education, and instead they give presents to the teachers."

Mrs. Weasley was very impressed.

"Then there are people who are grateful because Yamiko has helped them in some way," Sandrine went on explaining, "by protecting them from the giants, or by healing someone in their family, or by giving them food or money when they had a bad year... And finally there are those who just want to honour her out of respect for her ancestors."

Mrs. Weasley turned suddenly serious. "I wanted to thank Yamiko too when she saved my son's life, but she wouldn't take anything. Now I realised I should have given her something nevertheless."

"Yamiko doesn't do things because she expects something in return, Mrs. Weasley," Sandrine said. "She just likes to help. The Sams are like that, it's in their blood. Not every fuocciri would do it. It's different for Yamiko here, in Samrai, because it would be a great offence to reject these people's presents, but she doesn't really like being honoured like this. In fact, she rarely comes into Samrai herself. She usually sends her sister, because Samako has been living abroad for a very long time and people don't always recognise her. And then, Samako is not a fuocciri teacher herself, and thus not so many people give her presents."

"Still, I would like to make her a present too, the only thing I gave her was my address, in case she ever needed my help, and now it has turned out that it's me who is practically living under her roof."

"You gave her your address?" Sandrine asked smiling.

"Yes," Mrs. Weasley replied in a sad tone.

"I bet she liked that. Maybe you can invite her to visit you in England when the danger is over," Sandrine proposed. "She likes to go there now and then, to do some shopping, or just to visit some art galleries. She can stay with me, but I'm rarely at home, and she doesn't like to stay alone in my flat. She says, if she comes and has to stay in my flat or go out alone, it's not worth it, she'd rather stay in her house then. So maybe you could accompany her to some places. Show her around a bit. I don't think she's ever been to Diagon Alley, for instance."

"Really?" Mrs. Weasley couldn't imagine life without Diagon Alley. Maybe if she invited Yamiko she would let her buy her some small things, maybe some robes in Madam Malkin's or something like that. It would be expensive, but Molly really felt she had to do it.

"But who knows when all this will be over, dear?" Mrs. Weasley objected anyway, "what if I never get the chance to invite her to my house? What if..." Mrs. Weasley was going to say 'what if we die before that,' but checked herself in time. Sandrine seemed to get her meaning though.

"Molly," Sandrine said, suddenly serious, "do never loose hope."

***

Harry, Ron and Hermione had bought some sweets and then had wandered the streets aimlessly, just talking and enjoying the peaceful morning. Ron and Hermione were holding hands. It was an awkward situation, because it was the first time that the three of them were out for a walk alone since Ron and Hermione had started dating.

"We've been here before," Ron said, stopping, "I remember walking by that pink house earlier."

Harry and Hermione agreed. What a pity that Samrai was so small! They had already walked up and down all of its streets, and it was still early, they had time to wander some more.

"Maybe we should go back and look for a place to have a drink," Hermione proposed, "I think I've seen a small stand where you could get all sort of juices, even flower juices, I think I want to try one of those."

"Ok," Ron said, "but I haven't got any more of that food Yamiko gave us left."

"Me neither," Hermione sighed. "What about you Harry?"

Harry didn't answer, he was looking at something.

"Harry?" Hermione said.

Harry turned to them. "Sorry, what were you saying? I wasn't listening."

"Hermione wanted to go back to the market and have one of those flower juices we saw before," Ron repeated.

"Oh, sure, fine," Harry said in a not very convincing tone, and turned a bit to look at the clock in the town-hall. "But we still have time. What if we go first to that house up there?" He proposed.

Ron and Hermione turned to look in the direction he was pointing.

"Sure," Ron said without a second thought, and tugged Hermione's hand, but she wasn't moving.

"I don't think we should go there," she said worriedly.

"Why not?" Ron asked.

"Yamiko said Samrai was a safe place, but if we walk up that hill, we won't be exactly in Samrai, will we? And who knows who lives in that house anyway? Why do you want to go there Harry?"

Harry looked at the floor. "I don't know," he said, tracing lines in the sand with his right foot, his hands in his pockets. Then he looked again at the distant house. "I just have the feeling I should go there, it's weird."

Ron blanched a bit. "It doesn't have to do with your scar, does it?"

"No, not at all," Harry said, "it's more a... a hopeful sensation, it's as if... as if I had to go there for my own good, I really can't describe it."

Hermione and Ron didn't like this one bit.

"I think we should really go back," Hermione said.

"Fine," Harry said a bit too harsh, "you go back then, I'll go there alone."

"No way, mate, we are not leaving you alone," Ron said immediately.

Hermione was thinking fast. "Why don't we search for Yamiko and ask her who lives there? She must know. Then we can go there, once we are sure it won't be dangerous."

Harry had to admit Hermione's proposal seemed right, but somehow, he felt he had to go _now_. He didn't have the time to search for Yamiko.

"I'm going now," Harry said, "are you coming or not?"

Ron looked at Hermione, and she finally agreed. "Fine," she said, "but I don't like this at all."

Harry smiled at her. "Where is your Gryffindor spirit?"

"Probably back at Hogwarts," Hermione replied touchy.

And so they started walking to the house on the hill.

***

Remus was sitting outside a teashop, enjoying the bustling of the square, when Sandrine approached him.

"Hi!" She said, sitting in the chair opposite his with a sigh and letting go of her numerous bags.

"Hi!" Remus greeted her, "I see you've been really busy," he added amused, looking at all her bags.

"Oh, yes, I guess," Sandrine laughed. "There are a lot of celebrations coming this month, and I had to buy presents for everybody."

"All those bags are full of presents?" Remus asked, honestly shocked.

"Yes," Sandrine said smiling, "it's my godson's birthday in a few days, then Edvard's, then Grace's -a friend of mine-, then Yamiko's and Amanda's -another friend of mine-, and that's all until the end of August. I'll worry about September later," Sandrine said with a sigh.

The waiter came to take Sandrine's order and came back immediately with her cold orange tea.

"I should have probably followed your example," Remus said, "it's Harry's and Sirius' birthday soon too. I hadn't really thought about it."

"Really? When?"

"Harry's is the 31st of July, and Sirius' the 11th of August."

"Oh! Neville's is the 31st of July too! And Edvard's is the 9th of August. Maybe we could have a join party or something like that. I was planning on having a party on the 31st for Neville, we can celebrate now Harry's too. And then we could celebrate Edvard's and Sirius' birthdays the 11th."

"Why not the 10th? It would be in the middle," Remus proposed.

"No, no, I don't like celebrating a birthday before the actual date. It's supposed to bring bad luck."

Remus was surprised at this stroke of superstition in Sandrine.

"Don't tell them, ok?" Sandrine proposed. "That way it will be a surprise. I haven't told Neville and Edvard yet, but I'm afraid they won't be too surprised, because they are used to my 'surprise parties'."

Remus laughed. "My birthday is the 1st of March, in case you want to organise a surprise party in my honour," he joked.

To his surprise, Sandrine took a small agenda out of her bag and noted Remus' birthday on it.

"I was joking, Sandrine," Remus said a little bit uncomfortable, "please, don't feel obliged to organise the party, I..."

"Obliged?" Sandrine asked surprised. "It's obvious you don't know me yet. I _live_ to organise parties. I love it! Just wait and see what a summer we'll have."

"You'll be with us more often now?" Remus asked.

"Yes, I still have to work this week, but I'll be on holiday in August. I'll probably be coming and going a bit, but I plan to stay most of the month. I usually come to visit Yamiko during my holidays. We don't have much time to meet during the year, specially when she is teaching in the Fire Castle."

There was a short silence, and then Sandrine cleared her throat and said awkwardly:

"Remus, I wanted to thank you for the support you gave Neville some years ago, when you were teaching at Hogwarts."

Remus was very surprised. "What do you mean?"

"Well, the Longbottoms' are all very nice, but I don't think they are right about Neville, you know. They tend to treat him as if he was silly or something, but I'm sure Neville is a perfectly normal boy, only that he hasn't had a family to support him, and then the sadness of having to see his parents every summer, knowing they don't recognise him, has surely affected him. I've talked to Mrs. Longbottom many times about it, but she doesn't understand. She thinks Neville is almost a squib, and compares him all of the time with his father. I'm not saying Frank Longbottom wasn't a very powerful wizard, but I think that Neville could be a very powerful one too, if people would only give him their support.

"The year you were teaching at Hogwarts, his marks improved a lot, not only in your subject, but also in others. I think he felt you trusted in him, and that made him feel a little bit more sure of himself, you know. I could feel it in his letters. He was very sad when you had to leave, and wouldn't talk about anything else during all summer. The following year, his marks were still ok, although not as good. I hope he did well in his OWLs, because I know how important it is for him, and he's been working really hard. He wants to become a healer, you know, to try and help his parents."

Lupin didn't know what to say. He was touched that Neville had really benefited from his presence at Hogwarts, and at the same time he found it hard to believe that his improvement was related to him in any way.

"I would have thanked you earlier," Sandrine went on saying, "but I didn't realise you were 'the Professor Lupin' Neville had told me about. It wasn't until Edvard told me yesterday that you might go back to Hogwarts this year that I made the connection in my mind." She paused for a moment, licked her lips nervously and then said, "I... I don't want to pressure you or anything, but... I really hope you'll go back. I'm sure that if you could help Neville so much, you must be a wonderful teacher, Remus."

Remus forced a smile. Why couldn't they understand? He _wanted_ to go back, but did he dare?

Just then Sirius, Edvard, Michel and Molly joined them.

"Where is Yamiko?" asked Sandrine.

"I think she wanted to buy some new paintbrushes," said Mrs. Weasley.

"Ok, it's still early," said Sandrine. "Do you want to have some tea now or would you rather go to the restaurant? We can wait for her there."

They all decided to have a drink, it was very hot, and they still had time.

***

Harry, Ron and Hermione finally reached the house. They were panting, because it was very hot and the hill had been stepper than they had thought at first. They were all thinking longingly in those juices in the market square.

"What now?" Ron asked.

"Maybe the house is empty," said Hermione. "And what if the owner doesn't like visitors?" She asked, a bit worried.

Harry was feeling a little bit silly. He wasn't sure anymore why he had wanted to come up in the first place. There was nothing really striking about the house.

"Well, we are already here, so we might as well knock," he finally said, rising his fist, but before he had touched the wood, the door opened with a strident screech on its own accord.

They all looked at each other nervously.

"Hello?" Harry asked. "Is anybody at home?"

There was no answer, but curiosity overtook prudence once more, and the three of them stepped into the house.

The room they were in was very dark, in fact, there seemed to be no windows in it. The only light was coming from some burning torches hanging from the walls.

There was a small round table in the middle of the room with a crystal ball on it and four wooden stools around it. Apart from that, some scattered books was all that there was to see.

"I don't like this," Hermione whispered.

Ron and Harry nodded. They had a creepy feeling too.

"Let's go back," Harry whispered.

They turned to the door, but to their shock, it decided to close itself with a loud bang. Instinctively, they turned around once more, but they were still alone.

Then another door in front of them that they hadn't noticed yet, opened. They could see nothing beyond that door, it was all dark, but they could hear a clinking noise. Little by little, they could discern something inside the darkness, a tiny hunchbacked figure, leaning on a stick. Harry had a flashback and remembered the figure that had approached him and Cedric in that backyard where Voldemort had been reborn. The figure had turned out to be Wormtail carrying a baby Voldemort in his arms, but Harry's scar didn't hurt at all, and so he hoped whoever it was wouldn't be following Voldemort's orders.

The figure crossed the threshold and the second door closed again, and they could see the person better. It was a very old woman with long white hair falling tangled down her back and very strange colourless eyeballs. Ron and Hermione instinctively stepped in front of Harry with their wands out. 

The woman said something, but they couldn't understand her. Harry quickly took out the food Yamiko had given them -he hadn't used his yet-, and gave a small piece to Hermione and Ron, and then swallowed another bit himself.

The woman spoke again, and now they could understand what she was saying:

"Welcome to the humble abode of Bantu. Thank you for coming. Please, take a sit," and she signalled to the stools around the table. Ron and Hermione turned a bit to look at Harry, and he nodded. They lowered their wands and sat, and then the old woman, Bantu, sat too.

"Aaaaaaaah," she said in a misty whisper, "the time is close, I can feel it. The Greatest Ashanrii Of All Times will be born soon, and then Darkness will lift, and the world will live in peace for many centuries yet to come. The Chosen Five will protect HER, but they can't do it alone. They'll need help, _your_ help."

Hermione snorted. Another freak like Professor Trelawney. "Sorry, but we are quite busy at the time with school, Voldemort, and all of that, we don't have time to help your friends," she said testily.

The old woman looked dumb for a moment. "But they need your help," the woman suddenly said in distress, "I've seen it! When they fall, they will be too weak to raise again on their own. You must help them, so that they can come back, stronger and wiser than any other ashanrii has ever been before, and with them, they will bring HER."

"Who?" Asked Ron.

"The Greatest Ashanrii Of All Times," the woman explained patiently, "the one that will erase evil for ever from the face of the Earth."

Hermione and Ron sighed in annoyance. They didn't believe in all this crap. Harry was looking transfixed at the woman, though.

"How will we be able to help them?" He asked.

"Ah! I knew you were different, I knew you would listen to me," the woman said smiling feebly. "Look into the crystal ball, and you will see it."

Hermione rolled her eyes and stood. "We must leave now, bye."

"Wait!" The woman pleaded, "won't you at least look into the orb and see what I mean? I'm not lying, I've seen it many times myself. It's getting clearer everyday, the time is coming closer."

Hermione wanted to go, but Ron and Harry didn't seem to want to leave just yet.

"Hermione, wait," Harry pleaded, and Ron tugged her hand, he had to admit he was curious.

The girl swallowed and sat again.

"Thanks," Bantu said, and waved her hand at the crystal ball in the middle of the table.

Harry, Ron and Hermione looked at it, not really expecting to see much, but to their surprise, something seemed to be moving inside the orb, and soon they were looking at it mystified, seeing images as clearly as if they were watching a muggle film in a very small screen.

There were shadowy figures walking with their backs to them. Then three of them started to look sharper, and they recognised themselves, wrapped in thick clothes and walking slowly, fighting against the cold wind and the snow blocking their way. They couldn't discern who else was with them, but they were probably their age, because they were more or less the same high. Then they finally stopped, the wind seemed to have disappeared. Their figures in the crystal ball looked up, and they saw a huge building made of ice, with many turrets and windows. It was probably four times bigger than Hogwarts. It looked very macabre though, as if it was a gigantic tomb.

They approached the door, and one of the people going with them, someone smaller, stepped in front of the rest and touched the door. It started to open...

A sudden bang behind them made them all jump, and they blinked when the light coming in through the open door hit their eyes. Yamiko was standing there, looking absolutely furious. She shouted something, and then they realised the effects of the magical food had wore off, and they couldn't understand her words. Harry still had a small piece big enough for the three of them, but he wasn't sure he dared eat it in front of Yamiko. Maybe she didn't want them to understand what she was saying.

Yamiko approached them in two strides and shouted in English:

"YOU THREE, OUT, _NOW_!"

Harry, Ron and Hermione stood hurriedly and went to the door, but didn't leave. They had never seen Yamiko angry, and they didn't like it. She looked really dangerous. Harry took the opportunity to give Ron and Hermione some more magical food and then he ate the rest. Yamiko was still shouting:

"...the children, Bantu? I had expected better from you, you owe respect to my family, and I told you I didn't want to hear any more of your fantasies. Now you go and scare my guests, how do you dare?"

The old woman had stood too and was walking slowly to Yamiko, with her left hand outstretched to her.

"General Sam! You have to believe me! The time is coming. Don't feel bad for failing your friends, it's all written, you can do nothing against it. They will understand and forgive you. You must get ready. SHE is going to be born soon. And the future generations will honour you as one of the Chosen Five!"

The old woman had reached Yamiko now and had laid her hand on Yamiko's arm, holding to her for support, and looking pleadingly into her eyes.

Yamiko let go an exasperated breath and closed her eyes for a moment, trying to calm herself. Then she laid her left hand on the old woman's and said, in a sad tone:

"Bantu, you have to forget about your fantasies, they will never come true. I am _not_ one of the Chosen Five. The Chosen Five don't even _exist_. They are a _legend_." Then she paused and added in a more hurt tone: "And I will _never_ fail my friends."

Yamiko took the woman's hand carefully from her arm and helped her take a sit. Then turned to Harry, Ron and Hermione, who were looking at the scene in fascination. She made a movement with her head to tell them to get out, and they obeyed without complains. Outside the house there was a dragon, carrying a heavy load of food and other items. Yamiko took a couple of very heavy baskets and laid them on the doorstep of Bantu.

"Let's go," she said briskly, and turned and started walking downhill quickly without looking back.

Ron and Hermione followed at once, looking very guilty, although they weren't sure if Yamiko was mad at them or not. Harry stood for a moment longer and looked back for the last time, and before the door of Bantu's house closed, he could see the old woman still sitting in the stool were Yamiko had left them. She was crying.

*****

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Thanks for the reviews!

Thanks all for reading and reviewing!

I'm really worried, because I have the feeling you are still a little bit confused about the girls in the story. I had the intention of writing a chapter where they would be together and hoped thus you would be able to identify them, but the story didn't go as I had planned it at the beginning and that chapter didn't finally come into the fic. In Chapter 23 we'll be going back to Malfoy Manor, but in Chapter 24 I'll try to explain again about the ashanriis you have met so far, make a kind of summary.

So, what do you think of this chapter? I had no intention of bringing Bantu into the story so soon, but I was writing and suddenly Harry saw her house, and I had to introduce her. I don't think she will be coming back, though, at least not in _Finding Allies_. Of course, I cannot tell for sure, since the story is not completely written yet.

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Kadi Rilla Wholi: Thanks! Yes, we'll know what other animals Amanda can turn into pretty soon. I think Amanda is kind of interested in Severus, but I'm not so sure he returns the interest. We'll see...

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Lily Skylo: I'm glad your Internet is working again. I'm thinking of a way to answer your questions about Edvard through the fic. I think I know how to do it, but the bad news is that you'll have to wait a lot yet. Sorry! We'll see Benjamin and Ginny soon -and Dean Thomas. :D Remus is not sure yet if he is going back to Hogwarts or not. He wants to, but he is afraid something could go amiss, like the last time.

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weelassie: Thanks for confirming Irish is the name of the Gaelic spoken in Ireland. I hope you are enjoying my fic. ;-)

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Sirius Black: I'm glad you like my fic. What do you want to know about being a ff.net member? How to register? I'll send you an e-mail, ok?

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hermionegreen: Oh, yes, _a lot_ of possibilities. Aaaaaaaaaah! Whose sister are you talking about? Amanda only has one sister: Sha-adi, the mermaid. Yamiko and Narcissa are just friends, although it's true Amanda loves them as sisters. Who were you referring to?

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dweem-angel: Thanks! I wanted to update yesterday, but couldn't find the time. I hope I'll have the following chapter up in a couple of days. ;-)

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LyssasPen: Thanks, I'm glad you like my story. Mmmmmmm. Conflicts between Sirius and Severus? Well, it's obvious they don't like each other, but I don't think they are going to fight over women, if that's what you mean, you'll see why. :D

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JKReviewer: Thanks for your review. Yes, the time in the fic is progressing really slow. I really want to skip some days or weeks, but there is just so much to tell! And every day seems to take up one chapter or two! I think August is going to be much more light, though. When I started writing, I doubted the fic would reach chapter 10th, and now I've updated Chapter 22, and not even a month has passed! Lupin's lessons will start in Chapter 24. Between us, Marietta will definitely not attend the summer classes -I haven't invited her. :D


	23. Dumbledore's Spy

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Disclaimer: The characters that look familiar to you belong to J. K. Rowling. The ones you cannot find in any of her books are mine. I don't intend to make any money out of this. I'm just having some fun.

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Dumbledore's Spy

Days passed agreeably at Malfoy Manor. The only Death Eater staying in the house was Severus Snape, the others hadn't come back yet, although Amanda feared their return was imminent.

All too soon, the lazy mornings under the sun or the quiet evenings discussing with Severus about potions, politics, books and many other subjects came to an end.

That day, when she woke up, she could feel it already in the air. Darkness. The Death Eaters had come back. Amanda should have felt only disgust about it, but the truth is that sadness was the primary feeling in her heart at the moment. She had come to enjoy Severus' company, but now that his 'associates' were back, those peaceful hours chatting in the library or dinning with Narcissa and Draco would be over. Amanda knew it had to be so, and yet she felt sorry for it.

She wondered how could it be that she, the daughter of a Ming and a McGonagall, had ended up caring for a Death Eater, but Amanda was not a fool nor a liar, and she had to admit to herself that the mysterious Mr. Snape had awoken in her much more than pure interest. And that was a problem, because they were enemies. Amanda might have feelings for a Death Eater, but while he was one of them, she would never tell him. And she didn't know what Severus thought of her anyway. She had wondered... Sometimes he seemed to search for her company, to enjoy talking with her as much as she did, and on other occasions, she had the impression the man was trying to avoid her. Did that mean that he felt something for her too? Something more than friendship? Was he avoiding her because he knew they could never be together? Or was it just coincidence?

Amanda rubbed her temple and tossed aside the bedcover. A few minutes afterwards she was enjoying a warm shower, but her thoughts were still wrapped around Severus. She didn't love him. Not yet. But she felt very much attracted to him. Strange how she had come to value so much someone who she had sincerely hated at the beginning.

She took a deep sigh and stepped out of the shower. The mirror in the bathroom showed her a misty reflection, and Amanda thought it matched her mood perfectly. That was her, not a clearly defined person, but someone confused, undetermined. Amanda looked at herself in the mirror and smiled ruefully. She knew what she had to do. She couldn't fail Dumbledore. She waved her hand at the mirror and the vapour disappeared. Now the mirror was clean again, and her reflection was back to 'normal'. The cold haughty jilguerei was back. In times of war, 'romance' was an empty word.

***

Amanda had managed to avoid the Death Eaters during the whole day. She had met one or two of them occasionally on the stairs, but it was obvious that they had a meeting. A very important meeting. They had been in the library since early morning. Amanda felt lucky that she had taken some books to her room the previous day and could go on working upstairs. Narcissa and Draco were too busy attending their new guests to spend too much time with her, and the intimate meals in the greenhouse were definitely out of the question.

The evening came, and Amanda was trying to calm herself while she waited in her room for Draco. Narcissa had told her that there would be a 'welcome dinner' in honour of the new guests and had begged Amanda to attend it. Of course, Amanda, although not happy about the company, had no intention at all of missing such an opportunity to spy on Voldemort's followers. Nobody would suspect a friend of Narcissa, and an 'agreeable' dinner was the perfect excuse to observe others without attracting too much attention upon oneself.

A knock on her door broke her train of thought. Draco was waiting outside, dressed in his best robes and looking a little bit nervous.

"Aunt Mandy! You look amazing! Merlin, how unlucky that I wasn't born ten years earlier!" Draco complained.

Amanda glared playfully at him. She hoped she looked good, she had put on one of her best dresses. The Malfoys' dinners were usually very strict about etiquette. And well, maybe the hope to impress a certain Severus Snape had had something to do as well with her choice of clothes...

Taking Draco's arm, Amanda started descending the stairs royally. She could hear already voices downstairs. How many Death Eaters had come? How many of them would stay this time? When Draco and her took the last flight of steps, her natural elegance and her beauty provoked a sudden silence in the hall while everybody turned to admire her.

"Mandy!" A delighted voice called from the hall. Amanda had to make an enormous effort to go on descending the stairs calmly instead of turning on her heels and running to the closest bathroom to throw up.

Instead, she searched in the crowd for the face of the man who had spoken and forced a smile, more because Narcissa was watching her reaction than because she really felt the man deserved such a effort on her part.

The man was waiting for her at the end of the stairs, looking at her with a toothy smile on his face. Caesar Malfoy, Lucius' younger brother, had won the _Witch Weekly's_ Most-Charming-Smile Award every year since Gilderoy Lockhart had suffered a very strange accident and had ended up in St. Mungo's with no memory at all. Amanda secretly thought maybe the memory loss was due to too much smiling, and she hoped very much her ex-fiancé Caesar would be 'memoryless' in a couple of years.

"Caesar," she acknowledged with a nod of her head while wondering how on earth could she have ever kissed that man.

"Oh, Merlin! Why did I ever leave you, Mandy?" Caesar exclaimed as if they were representing _Romeo and Juliet_.

Amanda gritted her teeth before answering in the same falsely sweet tone: "What do you mean Caesar? It was _me_ who broke up our engagement, remember?" Maybe _there was_ a relation after all between smiling too much and loosing your memory.

Caesar merely ignored Amanda's last comment and addressed Draco. "Draco, if you'd excuse us, you are too young to have the honour of escorting our beautiful Mandy to the table," and he offered her his arm pompously.

Amanda grabbed Draco's arm with so much force that it hurt. Draco couldn't miss the message. "Sorry, Uncle Caesar," the boy said graciously, "Aunt Mandy is mine for the night."

"For the holidays," Amanda grunted, loosing control over her false smile for a moment.

"For the holidays," Draco corrected himself, smiling.

Narcissa thought that Caesar had been duly humiliated for a while and intervened, taking his arm and walking to the dining-room, followed by everybody else. Maybe she could let Mandy ridicule him a bit more during dessert.

There were small cards on the table with the names of the people to indicate their seats. Amanda realised with a sigh that she would be sitting at the head of the table, in Lucius' usual place. Narcissa had taken her usual seat, on the other extreme of the table. Amanda didn't like this one bit. That would mean she would be surrounded by Death Eaters.

The men lingered a bit, finishing the conversations that had been interrupted by Amanda's appearance on the stairs and her short dialogue with Caesar.

Amanda saw with dismay that Caesar was approaching her, obviously intending to sit close to her. He studied the cards on both sides of her and looked utterly displeased.

"I think you are sitting next to Mother, Uncle Caesar," Draco came to the rescue, "I thought you were the most indicated to cheer her up a bit, you can talk to her about Father, tell her some of those stories about the two of you when you were children... you know, the usual..."

"Oh," Caesar said a little bit mollified. "Of course, Draco, it would be a pleasure to make your mother smile a bit tonight, I'm sure she has been feeling pretty lonely lately."

"Heartbroken, more like," Draco said.

"Yes, yes, heartbroken." Caesar then turned to Amanda, who was listening intently, worried that Caesar would send Draco to console his mother and take the boy's place instead. "Mandy, I would love to talk with you in private if you could spare me some minutes before going to bed tonight."

"Can't we talk in the morning, Caesar? You know you are never up to much talking after a copious dinner."

Caesar didn't look too happy. "Breakfast, then? Ten o'clock in the kitchen?"

"Ten o'clock in the kitchen. Breakfast for you, third coffee for me," Amanda pointed out, "you know I'm quite the early riser."

Caesar nodded courteously, but his smile had faded long ago from his handsome face. He then turned and went to take her seat to Narcissa's right.

Draco took a seat to Amanda's right, and the man sitting next to him immediately engrossed him in conversation about Quidditch. Amanda couldn't see the name printed in the card to her left, and she wondered who would be sitting there. She took the time then to look around the room. She recognised immediately the two men she already knew, McNair and Pettigrew. She wondered if Dumbledore's spy was in the room too. Her aunt had told her they had a spy infiltrated in Voldemort's organisation. Maybe he was here today. But how could she recognise him?

"You look lovely, Amanda," a silky voice said from her left.

Amanda jumped a bit, she had been looking in the opposite direction, studying the people slowly taking their seats. "Thanks, Severus," she said, blushing a bit. What was going on with her? She hadn't blushed like that since she was a teenager!

The meal turned out to be quite agreeable. Amanda talked animatedly with Snape and was having the time of her life, not minding in the least that they were surrounded by a group of Death Eaters, not even caring for once that Severus was one of them too.

But it seems all good things must come to an end...

"Why, Severus! You seem to have made a conquest!" McNair shouted from across the table, turning everybody's attention to Severus and Amanda.

Snape tensed immediately. He had committed the mistake of relaxing too much. That had been a very big tactical error. As a spy, he was living on a tight rope. He couldn't allow himself the luxury of enjoying himself and definitely not of showing some interest on anyone. The moment he was discovered -and Severus Snape was sure he would be discovered sooner or later-, Voldemort wouldn't be happy with merely killing him, he would make him suffer as much as he could first, and the worst anybody could experience was seeing someone they appreciated or cared about hurt and killed in front of their very eyes. Not that he cared about Amanda. He enjoyed her clever conversation and found her the most beautiful creature he had ever beheld, but apart from that and catching himself thinking of her every two minutes...

He was going to snap back in his more dangerous voice, but Amanda beat him to it.

"Mr. McNair," Amanda said with a sweet smile. "What makes you think Mr. Snape has made a conquest and it hasn't been _me_ who has conquered him?"

Everybody turned to look at McNair, who looked a bit taken aback.

"I bet our dear Amanda has made not only one, but many conquests tonight," Narcissa, always the perfect hostess, interjected, trying to avoid a discussion. "I don't think I have introduced her to you properly, gentlemen, allow me to do it now." Narcissa paused and looked at Amanda, and everybody followed her gaze.

"Gentlemen, this is Amanda Ming, a very dear friend of mine. She is -to my disappointment-, Caesar Malfoy's _ex_-fiancée, and my son Draco's godmother. She speaks eleven languages, has a muggle degree on Chemistry and Pharmacy, and also happens to be a jilguerei."

Everybody started speaking and exclaiming at once. A jilguerei! Did they really exist then?

Amanda waited stoically until everybody had finally stopped staring at her as if the word 'jilguerei' was printed on her nose.

And then the questions began:

"You can sing then? I think jilguereis are the singing ashanriis, aren't they?" Someone asked.

"Yes," Amanda simply said.

"How did you meet Mrs. Malfoy?"

Well, that was a difficult question to answer. Amanda couldn't tell the truth, of course. Luckily, Amanda and Narcissa had thought of a believable story many years ago, and now Amanda could tell it without pausing once to think. "We met at one of Madame Malkin's fashion show. I had to buy a dress for a wedding, but my aunt was busy and couldn't come with me, so I was sitting alone, and Narcissa sat beside me. We soon realised we had a very similar taste, and started talking. Then Narcissa invited me to have some tea, and as we both enjoyed each other's company so much, we went on meeting now and then. Time passed and... well, that was more than ten years ago and here we are now."

"Why did you go to a muggle university if you were born a jilguerei?" A man with a very thick nose asked from Narcissa's left.

"When my mother died, I had some friends who took me in and then, well, this friend of mine wanted to go to a muggle university and as I had nothing better to do, I decided I would join her. I've never been able to stay at home doing nothing. It seemed like the right thing to do at the time. And it was. Now I'm working for a muggle lab."

"You are working?" Another man asked. "I thought ashanriis were so rich that they didn't need to work."

"Well, as I just said, I like having something to do. And I happen to like my work very much. And no, not all ashanriis are rich."

"Yes, ok, but... with muggles?"

"Why not? They pay me well."

"But they are muggles!" The thick-nosed man exclaimed. As Amanda looked politely puzzled, the man added: "Muggles are inferior beings."

Amanda turned very serious. "That's your opinion, I don't agree with it."

There were some smiles and chuckles around the table. The Death Eaters were thinking that, after all, Amanda was just another beautiful girl, no brain at all. How could she fail to see muggles _were_ inferior?

Amanda had the feeling she would regret it, but she had to say it:

"I'm afraid our dear hostess forgot to mention something important in introducing me," she looked at Narcissa, who was looking very serious, apparently knowing what she was going to say and not liking it.

Everybody was silent, looking at Amanda.

"I think Voldemort is a madman and Death Eaters are brainless heartless bullying _beasts_ who suffer an inferiority complex," she said in her sweetest voice, and then raised her glass full of sparkling champagne gracefully and bowed slightly, looking in turn at every men in the room before taking a sip.

The tension was so thick for a moment that it was even hard to breath in the room. Narcissa and Draco reached discreetly for their wands, just in case they needed to defend Amanda, although she had been the one to provoke the Death Eaters. Snape reached for it too, what surprised himself a lot, since there was no way he could defend Amanda. In fact, if he was going to keep his cover as a spy, he should probably hex her. After all, she had insulted him too.

All the Death Eaters looked too shocked to react, though, and Draco couldn't help but think that maybe Amanda was right, at the very least they were 'brainless'.

Amanda looked quite relaxed. After letting her message sink in the Death Eater's thick skulls, she sighed dramatically before adding: "I must admit, though, now I've met some of you, I find Death Eaters terribly... _sexy_."

All the men immediately relaxed and even grinned like idiots. Their ego was appeased, and they chose to think Amanda had been joking before when she had insulted them and the Dark Lord. What they didn't know though, was that Amanda had 'turned on' her irresistible _Captivare_ charm. It was a charm that only ashanriis and Veelas could use, and that allowed them to seduce in an instant every single men -with a few reasonable exceptions- in at least a kilometre around them. At the moment, the Death Eaters couldn't have cared less if Amanda had insulted their own mothers, they would still think she was the most _charming_ creature in the world.

Narcissa shook her head at Amanda, silently reprimanding her for taking such an unnecessary risk. Amanda had the grace to look a little bit ashamed.

Draco swallowed hard and then relaxed, immediately realising that Amanda had turned on the charm and seeing everybody was under its effect. He wasn't affected, because he saw Amanda as a blood relative, and although they flirted sometimes, it was only a play for them. It was one of the limitations of the _Captivare_ charm, it didn't work on relatives. He turned to look at Amanda, but froze in place when he saw Professor Snape didn't seem to be under the effect of Amanda's charm. Instead of looking at her with an hypnotised smile like the other men, Severus Snape was looking at the other Death Eaters wondering what was wrong with them.

Amanda had noticed it too, and she found it a bit disturbing, to say the least. How could it be that Severus apparently hadn't been affected by her charm? He was closest to her. He should be down on his knees right now, looking mystified at her. But no, he was looking a little bit lost, but not at all affected by her. Amanda couldn't avoid a pang of worry. Her stomach went to her throat and her hands started to sweat. She was feeling cold too. Could it be... No, no, he had never mentioned another woman. But then, they had mostly talked about potions and politics and stuff, not about themselves. What if he was in love with someone else? What if he was even married? What if he was gay? Because there could be no other explanation. To resist the _Captivare_ charm, you had to be a relative of the caster, not interested in women, or... or in love with someone else.

Severus turned to Amanda and caught her staring at him. She immediately concentrated on the tiny sparks inside her champagne glass. Severus leaned closer to her and whispered in her ear:

"You have put them under a spell, haven't you?"

To have him so close, to feel his breath in her ear, was almost too much for Amanda. Now that she had discovered he was out of her reach, she had suddenly made up her mind that she was indeed in love with him. What was she going to do?

She nodded silently in response to Snape's question, keeping her eyes on the champagne.

"Why didn't you put me too?" Snape whispered again.

Amanda wished she knew. She made some quick thinking, she couldn't tell him the truth: that she wasn't able to affect him. "I..." She finally started to say, but couldn't go on. Then she looked up into his eyes and swallowed, and decided that maybe she could tell him part of the truth:

"I think you are not like the other Death Eaters, Severus. I don't know why you are one of them. You don't really fit into any of the categories I usually classify Death Eaters into. I mean, you are _clever_. Why would you need to follow Voldemort? You could be great and famous for your own merits if you wanted to. Why be the slave of a madman?"

Severus was very shocked. His usual facial mask faded for a moment and his surprise was clearly written in his features. And his eyes... His eyes showed something else, although Amanda wasn't sure what it could be. Was it happiness, was it thankfulness? The light in Severus' eyes faded immediately, and his mask was back in place.

"What will happen when they recover from the spell?" He asked, choosing to ignore Amanda's previous question.

"They will remember nothing strange. Just that we were all eating and drinking. They'll probably think they've had too much to drink. And they'll think I'm a dear child."

"They won't be angry?"

"No," Amanda said, her eyes back on the sparks.

"Will they know I wasn't under the spell?"

"No," she repeated.

"Very risky, Miss Ming, very risky," Severus said, and straightened again.

"Jilguerei are animagi, right?" Pettigrew suddenly asked.

"Yes, we are," Amanda confirmed.

"I know it because I am an animagus too, and I read it somewhere while I was studying to achieve the transformation," Pettigrew explained proudly.

"What kind of animal can you turn into, Mr. Pettigrew?" Draco asked.

"A rat," Pettigrew answered proudly.

Amanda raised an eyebrow imperceptibly for a second. In her opinion, being able to turn into a rat wasn't something you should be proud of.

After that the questions ended and the conversation went on for a while around the table. Amanda even had the good grace of singing for them all when Draco begged her to entertain them for a little while.

The evening hadn't gone as bad as Amanda had expected after all. She was impressed with herself for being such a good actress.

***

Three o'clock in the morning. Amanda had been staring out of the window for a while now. She found she couldn't sleep. From her bed, she could see the moon looking down at her, like a mighty Queen of the night.

She had been thinking since she had come upstairs. She, Amanda Ming, was in love with a Death Eater. Of all the men in the world! Yamiko wouldn't be happy. The fuocciri had always told her she didn't like Amanda's friendship with Narcissa Malfoy. She said nothing good could come of it. Yamiko had been right, of course, as always, because shortly after meeting Narcissa, Amanda had started dating Caesar Malfoy and had ended up with her heart broken, and now life showed her again how right Yamiko had been. The fuocciri would never approve of Severus. And what about Auntie Minnie and Dumbledore? No, they wouldn't be happy either.

What did it matter anyway? Severus Snape was out of her reach. Amanda had been replaying all their conversations in her head, but she could really find no clue as to whether Severus could be interested in someone else. She avoided the mirror on the room and went straight to the sink to wash her face. The cold water made her headache recede a bit, but she felt still very bad. Maybe a good book would help.

She opened her door carefully and stepped barefooted outside the room. While she walked downstairs, she wondered what could she read. The books she needed for her work would probably only make her headache worse, but maybe she could go on reading that book about the Malfoy Family. If it had been so boring to put her to sleep once, maybe it would be able to put her to sleep again. And then it stroke her. She stopped dead in her tracks, thinking like mad. What if... No, no, it couldn't be. Or could it? She had suddenly realised that she couldn't be sure that Severus wasn't a relative of hers. A distant relative. She didn't remember seeing the name Snape in her family tree, but what if they were related through his mother? What if Mrs. Snape was related to the McGonagalls or the Mings in some way? And Severus had known about ashanriis, which was strange, because most wizards thought they didn't exist. So maybe his mother had been an ashanrii too and she was a distant cousin of her own mother or something like that!

If it was that! Amanda prayed to all the gods that Severus and her were related, and in her hope that his heart wasn't engaged, she forgot that, if they were relatives, a relationship between them would be an incest.

Hope is always a strong medicine, and so Amanda forgot about her headache in a moment and almost flew downstairs and into the library. She paused for a moment at the door, her heart beating madly in her chest. She didn't dare light the candles nor the torches, what if someone found her there looking at the Snapes' genealogy? Taking deep breaths to steady herself, she walked to the centre of the room, only illuminated by the moonlight coming in through the windows. She closed her eyes and commanded:

"Show me any book with the name Snape on it." 

Immediately, some fifty volumes -as far as she could see- stood out. It seemed the Snape was a very ancient family or there was a lot to tell about its members. She tried to narrow the search.

"Show me a book about the Snape Family," she ordered.

A book flew down to her from one of the upper rows. It was a thick volume bounded in black leather, and Amanda almost let it fall to the floor, unable to hold it. Lucky for her, a jilguerei didn't need much physical strength. She whispered a spell and the book was suddenly as light as a feather.

She was almost outside the library when a dry sound behind her startled her. She turned and narrowed her eyes. The room was illuminated enough, there was nobody there. She studied the floor, maybe one of the books she had conjured up first had fallen instead of going back to its place. It happened sometimes. It had really sounded as if a book had hit the floor. She started tiptoeing silently along the bookcases, holding her breath and the big book to her chest. Nothing... Nothing... Nothing... Wait! Light! There was a tiny hole on the floor, and through it Amanda could see a little bit of light. The hole was no bigger than a pea, if it hadn't been because Amanda was looking for something, she would have never seen it. She smiled satisfied at herself. So this was it: Lucius' secret study.

Amanda waved her hand to the floor and it turned transparent, but in a way that only people looking from upside would be able to see what was hidden below without the people downstairs noticing or seeing anything strange above them.

Yes, this had to be Lucius' secret study. She could see steps to descend and a big round table with lots of chairs around it. She waved her hand again to see more of the room and tiptoed to the other side of the now transparent floor.

There was a man there, but Amanda couldn't see his face, because he was bent, apparently be searching frantically for something in the drawers of a desk. The spy! Amanda felt very silly. Since she had come to Malfoy Manor, all she could tell her aunt was when Death Eaters came and went, but that was all. She had found nothing really interesting so far, and now here was this man, who had to be Dumbledore's spy. He had already found the room she had been searching for herself. How much wasted time! She could as well have stayed at home!

And then Amanda's heart stopped beating. The man she had been looking at had suddenly straightened and run his hands over his hair in frustration, looking at the ceiling, and Amanda had been able to see his face clearly. Severus! Severus was the spy? Her mind was reeling. Severus wasn't a Death Eater! He was Dumbledore's spy! How had she been so silly not to realise? She had even told him tonight. He wasn't like the rest of them. He was different. And that was because he was not one of them. Amanda wasn't in love with a Death Eater!

That thought made Amanda remember what she had come downstairs for. Now more than ever she needed to know if Severus had resisted her charm because he was a relative of hers. She waved her hand at the floor and it recovered its normal opaqueness.

Then she left the library with a smile on her face. Severus wasn't a Death Eater! Oh, what a joyful discovery. Amanda wasn't even worried anymore that he might be in love with someone else. What did it matter now? Amanda would go to any lengths to get the man she loved. Her feelings weren't wrong anymore, because he wasn't a dark wizard.

Feeling suddenly thirsty, she decided to go to the kitchen first to get herself a glass of milk. She was walking upstairs again, the book in one hand and the glass on the other, when she heard steps and whispered voices coming downstairs. In a flash, she vanished the book and the glass to her room and turned into a snake. Some of the Death Eaters knew she could turn into a black cat, and a snake wouldn't be too conspicuous in Malfoy Manor. They would probably think she had escaped from the dungeons. She snaked along quickly to the side, to avoid being treaded on, and waited, trying hard to hear what the men were saying.

"Are you sure?" It was Caesar.

"Yes, I've seen him myself just a moment ago," Pettigrew was saying.

"Very well," Caesar answered. "We'll wake McNair up first. We might need his axe."

They reached the next landing and turned to the left in search of McNair's room, and Amanda turned back into a woman. This was bad. If she had understood correctly, they had discovered Severus. Whom else could have seen Pettigrew if it wasn't him? Maybe Pettigrew was in the library too, hidden somehow, and he had seen Severus searching through the drawers of Lucius' desk, looking for something. She had to warn him, but the problem was that Caesar would be there, and she would recognise her in any of her animal forms. Not to mention the fact that maybe Pettigrew had seen her downstairs before.

She risked turning into her eagle form and this time really flew downstairs and into the library. The door was now ajar, probably Pettigrew had left it like that after leaving in a hurry to wake up Caesar and the others.

The eagle landed smoothly near the spot where she had seen the hole before and turned back into a woman. She waved her hand and looked anxiously downstairs. Severus was now comfortably sitting on Lucius' armchair, reading some documents. She stood for a moment, thinking what to do. She didn't know what she had to do to get downstairs, and she couldn't risk making noise.

She turned into a cat, because felines could see much better in the darkness, and searched for something that would allow her to open a door or a trap. There it was! The Malfoys' crest stamped in gold on the spine of a book. It had to be that. Turning back into a woman, Amanda took the book, but nothing happened. She opened it, the pages were full of scrawled words, but there was nothing that would give her a clue. Then she put it back on its place. Maybe it wasn't that... But in putting the book back, Amanda pressed a bit the crest, and the floor shook a bit. So that was it, she had to press the crest, not take the book.

She was trying to decide if she should go downstairs in her human or in one of her animal forms, when she heard the voices just outside the library. They were coming, there was no time for hesitation.

Amanda waved her hand at the floor to return it to its normal shape, pressed the crest on the book and the floor slid to the side, revealing the steep staircase she had seen before through it. She run downstairs lifting her long nightdress with her hands to avoid tripping just as she heard the door to the library open. At the end of the stairs, she turned to the desk she had seen from upstairs. Severus was sitting there, his mouth open in astonishment.

"Amanda?" He asked.

She run to him and whispered in distress: "They have found you out! They are coming!"

Severus paled and looked upstairs as Amanda turned to the stairs. They could see already the shoes of someone descending the stairs. At least they didn't seem to be in a hurry.

Amanda turned to Severus with panic in her eyes. They were going to kill him! She had a sudden idea:

"Follow my lead," she whispered urgently, and then almost threw herself in Severus' arms and kissed him soundly.

Severus didn't even have time to react before Caesar's voice resounded in the room:

"What the..."

Amanda stopped kissing Severus and turned to look at Caesar. She feigned surprise and rose in a flash from Severus' lap.

"Caesar! What are you doing here?" She asked angrily.

"_Me_? You have the cheek to ask _me_? What are _you_ doing here? In _his_ arms?" Caesar added with a revolted look.

"Caesar, stop behaving like a child," Amanda admonished. "Our relationship is o-v-e-r. Do you understand me? I'm free to kiss whomever I want."

"Amanda," Caesar said walking menacingly up to her, "don't ever dream our relationship is over. You and I are meant to be together. We'll marry and you will bear my children, whether you like it or not."

"Oh!" Amanda exclaimed in exasperation. She had already forgotten about Severus being in danger. What did Caesar mean she would marry him whether she liked it or not?

"For your information," she said, "I happen to be in love with Severus. And he is in love with me. Aren't you? Tell him Severus!" She commanded, turning to look at him.

Snape couldn't believe his ears nor his eyes. He looked at each and every person in the room, Caesar and Amanda, both glaring daggers at him, and Pettigrew and McNair, frozen at the end of the stairs, gaping at him with their mouths open and their eyes bulging. Snape thought for a moment their surprised expressions didn't probably match his own. He shook himself mentally.

Rising from the armchair slowly, he addressed Caesar. "This is not the time nor the place to discuss this." Severus said, and felt the look of admiration Pettigrew and McNair were giving him for his cold blood. "I've found the information we needed. The main thing now is to rescue your brother and the others, the soap operas can wait." He addressed Pettigrew next: "Are you sure it was Lucius?"

Pettigrew sighed exasperated. "How many times do I have to tell you. I saw him with my own eyes! It's him!"

"Right, then we'd better get going," he said, and taking the parchments he had been consulting strode imposingly between Caesar and Amanda and started to walk upstairs.

Caesar towered over Amanda menacingly. "What is going on between you and..."

"CAESAR!" Snape called in an angry tone from the stairs. "LATER."

Caesar reluctantly left Amanda standing there and followed Snape.

"What about her?" McNair asked. "Nobody should know where we are going." McNair was hoping to get an excuse to pay Amanda back for her scratch.

"It's ok, Amanda won't tell anybody," Caesar said in a bored tone, and then the four men finally disappeared and Amanda was left alone in Lucius' secret study.

***

It was quite cool outside. Amanda didn't want to loose time in getting slippers and a jacket. She didn't even think about it. She walked with decision to the greenhouse, and then further away from the house. A few meters behind the greenhouse, there was a small pond. Amanda's favourite place in the Malfoys' property. Nobody would be surprised to find her there at any time of day or night. She usually went there when she wanted to think or just be alone. That's why the pond was the perfect place to contact Hogwarts.

Amanda waved her hand at the greenish waters and they moved, like rippled by a soft breeze.

"Minerva McGonagall," she said low but clearly.

The waters seemed to boil for a moment, and then they calmed once more. Professor McGonagall's sleepy face, with her hair hanging down in a loose plait, appeared in the water.

"Amanda, dear, what is it?"

"The Death Eaters have found the place where the Ministry keeps hidden Lucius Malfoy and the other captured Death Eaters. They have left a few minutes ago. I came to warn you as soon as I could."

"I'll tell Albus," Professor McGonagall said. "Now go back to bed and try to get some rest."

Amanda nodded and was going to wave her hand again at the waters when her aunt spoke again:

"And Amanda..."

"Yes?"

"Take care, dear," Professor McGonagall said with a wary smile.

"I will," her niece answered with a sad smile, "you too, Auntie Minnie, you too."

The old witch nodded and disappeared.

***

Once back in her room, Amanda knew she wouldn't be able to sleep. The glass of milk and the book with the Snapes' genealogy laid on her bedside table, but she wasn't thirsty nor interested in the book anymore.

She realised now how silly she had been. She had been daydreaming about a man who was her enemy. It was obvious that Snape not only wasn't Dumbledore's spy, but even worse, he seemed to be one of the leaders of the Death Eaters. Even Caesar Malfoy had followed his orders without daring to object.

Of course Snape was different from the rest. Most of the Death Eaters were only puppets of the Dark Lord, but he needed clever men too who would help him control those puppets. Lucius was one of them. He wasn't either like the other Death Eaters, he was more like Snape: clever, cunning, cold-blooded...

She snapped her fingers and the book disappeared and went back to its usual place in the library. Then she went to the wardrobe and searched for something: a tiny black bottle. In reaching for it, something caught her attention: her mother's portrait, she carried it with here everywhere she went, although she usually kept it hidden. Amanda took the small photograph of a young serious woman. Her mother hadn't had many reasons to smile in life.

"Mother," she said, "I can understand what you meant now. I know you won't be happy to hear it, but I must tell you something: I've made the same mistake you did, the one you warned me about. I've spent all of my life trying to be different from you, as you told me I should, trying hard not to commit your same mistakes, but in the end, destiny has been stronger than my own will. How ironic that I should end up loving the wrong man too." Amanda paused for a moment, a sad smile on her face. "But mother," she said with determination shining through her eyes, "I have an advantage over you: I know I must fight this feeling. I can't become another puppet of the Dark Lord. I won't, I promise." Amanda opened the small bottle, dedicated a silent toast to her mother and then swallowed its contents in one gulp. She hid the bottle and the portrait again and went back to bed. She forced herself to drink the milk now. The Dreamless Sleep Potion had a very bad taste and the milk would help keep her stomach down. 

She'd think about it all in the morning, although there wasn't much to think about really. Amanda knew her decision had been taken long ago. She wouldn't fail the Order. Severus Snape was just another enemy, and she would treat him in accordance: she would be polite, but keep her distance from the man.

And then sleep engulfed her, and her worries vanished... until morning would break.

*****

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Thanks for the reviews!

Thanks all for reading and reviewing!

This chapter was very hard to write. In fact, I wrote first another version, and then deleted most of it and started anew. That was hard. :-(

In the following chapter, you'll find the summary I promised you about the different ashanriis we have met so far. Not all of them, just the really important ones. And we'll see some familiar faces again. Yes, Dumbledore's Army will be back in Chapter 24!

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hermionegreen: I can understand it must be confusing, with so many names. Hopefully everything will be much clearer after you read Chapter 24. Yes, the house to which Black Manor is connected now is the house of the Sams, Yamiko and Samako. We'll know more about Bantu's prophecy in the next chapter too. :-)

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LyssasPen: Thank you! I hope this chapter didn't disappoint you. ;-)

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Kadi Rilla Wholi: Wow, how many questions! :-) You are lucky, because you will get some answers in the next chapter. You'll have to wait a lot, though, to know about the others. And about Remus and Sandrine... I'm not telling. :D

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Lily Skylo: Well, Snape is back in this chapter, but things don't look too well for our poor Amanda. We'll see Remus, Dean, Ginny and Benjamin in the following chapter, which should be a little bit funnier.

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dweem-angel: I do my best to update soon. That way I make myself write a bit every day. If I were to stop writing for some days, I would probably stop writing altogether, because I would find it difficult to recover the thread of the story. Let's hope my work allows me to go on writing regularly. :D

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iNsAnEgUrLrOx: Oh, my dear, what a difficult name! :D Thanks a lot for your reviews. I have the feeling you don't like Snape much, am I right? Well, as you can see in this chapter, Amanda _does_ like Snivellus, and he seems to like her too, but he is such a difficult man... so I can't tell for sure yet. Don't worry about Sirius, though, I have plans for him too. :D

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Makalani Astral: :D Many reviewers are sure there will be a SB/AM/SS love triangle. Well, let's see. I hope I will be able to surprise you all, just give me a few chapters more. ;-)

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kt: Ok, I'm glad you will still be reading my story. Harry and Cho will meet again in the next chapter, but there won't be much about them yet.

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Katiekins: Thank you. I hope you like the rest of the fic too. ;-)

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Lupin: Welcome back! I have good news for you, there will be some action again in Chapters 25 and 26, which should be up soon. Initially, there was going to be some spell work in Chapter 24, but I preferred to insist more on the various ashanriis, so the action has been a little bit postponed. I'll think about your web site. I'll e-mail you if I come up with something. ;-)

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PaigeGirl-nee: I'm glad you like the story. And yes, I was a little bit carried away by my imagination in Chapter 9. I'm afraid there are other very long chapters too after that, I hope you enjoyed them, though. :D


	24. Yamiko's Fear

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Disclaimer: The characters that look familiar to you belong to J. K. Rowling. The ones you cannot find in any of her books are mine. I don't intend to make any money out of this. I'm just having some fun.

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Yamiko's Fear

Harry, Ron and Hermione hadn't had a chance yet to comment on what had happened in Bantu's house. Before going into the restaurant -where the others were already waiting-, Yamiko had turned to them and had seriously asked them to never visit Bantu again and not to worry about her words.

It was evening now, and instead of being excited because the rest of Dumbledore's Army was going to join them any moment now, Harry was still thinking in what he had seen in Bantu's crystal ball.

The sound of laughter took Harry out of his musings. The door of Black Manor opened and in came Yamiko and Sandrine, followed by a very amused crowd. Some people were even drying tears of laughter from their smiling faces.

Sandrine sighed exaggeratedly, and then went over to Lupin. "Remus," she said, laying her hand on his arm, "I understand now why you have your doubts about returning to Hogwarts. They are _terrible_. And I only had to stand a few of them!"

"Yes," Lupin said laughing, "they can be quite _insufferable_. In fact, my lycanthropy was only an excuse. You have discovered the real reason I'm afraid to go back to Hogwarts. Young wizards and witches can be quite scary if they want to."

Everybody in the room laughed, and then the introductions were made. The newcomers greeted Lupin cheerfully. He had always been one of their favourite teachers. They looked a little bit unsure when they were introduced to Sirius Black, though. Yamiko and Sandrine had warned them that he would be there and had told them he had been wrongly accused, but still it was kind of disturbing meeting the man with whose name their parents had terrorised them when they were children to make them eat all of their food or go to bed. Edvard and Michel smiled politely at them and Mrs. Weasley immediately started hoarding them into the kitchen, where some refreshments were waiting for them.

Once everybody had helped themselves to a drink, people started to divide into groups and conversation filled the room.

Neville approached Sirius first. "I'm glad you are ok Mr. Black," he said timidly, "I saw you fall through the veil. Auntie Sandrine told me everything."

Sirius looked a little bit shocked. "Did she tell everybody what happened?"

"No, just me," Neville explained, "because I knew you had to be dead, so I told her. When she mentioned you, I thought maybe you were an impostor or something, and then she explained what had happened."

Sirius nodded. "Your aunt is a wonderful woman, Neville, you are very lucky."

"I know," Neville replied proudly. "There's no one like Sandrine."

They both turned to her. Sandrine was carrying a big tray loaded with sandwiches, offering some to the people across the room.

"Foie-gras, cheese, salami, chicken, sausage, tuna..." Sandrine said, lowering her tray so that Ginny and Dean could take a sandwich, but they both refused her offer politely, so she moved on to the next group of people.

Ginny and Dean had just greeted each other awkwardly when Sandrine had come to them with the food. When she left, they resumed their interrupted conversation.

"Dean, there is something I have to tell you..." Ginny said looking at the floor.

"Me too," Dean said.

"Oh! You first, then," Ginny offered hopefully. She didn't really know how to tell Dean she was going out with someone else, but she really had to, because Benjamin would be there soon, and Benjamin would probably think it strange if Dean were to be following Ginny around the whole evening. Why did she have to tell Benjamin she didn't have a boyfriend?

"No, no, ladies first," Dean insisted.

"That's chauvinistic, Dean, you first," Ginny tried to convince him.

"No way, you said it first," Dean replied stubbornly.

Ginny sighed. Ok, then, the sooner she told him, the better. "Dean, I've... met someone else..." Ginny said, changing the weight of her small body from one foot to the other nervously.

"Oh!" Dean was speechless.

"I'm sorry, Dean..."

"No, no," Dean said smiling, "I must admit I'm shocked, but that's ok."

"Really?" Ginny was very relieved that he was taking it so well.

"Yeah," Dean said, "in fact... I've met someone else too. That's what I wanted to tell you."

"Oh!" Now it was Ginny's turn to be speechless. "Do I know her?" She asked curiously.

"No, she is a neighbour, a muggle."

"Oh, ok," Ginny said, grinning like mad.

"What about you?" Dean asked. "Do I know _him_?"

"No, not yet," Ginny said.

"But I will?" He asked.

Ginny nodded. "He is staying here too for the summer. I met him at St. Mungo's, I'm following a training program there to become a healer."

"Cool!" Dean said. "I'm happy for you, you were always saying you wanted to become a healer when you left Hogwarts."

"Yes, it's very exciting, Dean, I..." Before getting carried away by her enthusiasm with the training, Ginny thought she should ask Dean a little favour.

"What?" Dean asked, wondering why she had stopped mid-sentence.

"I have to ask you a favour, Dean," Ginny said, biting her lower lip nervously.

"Sure," Dean said shrugging.

"It's that... Well, I actually have to ask you two favours," Ginny admitted.

"Ok, shoot," Dean said laughing.

"First of all, only Cho, Hermione and you know that I'm going out with this guy, Benjamin."

"No problem, my lips are sealed," Dean promised. "What else?"

"I haven't told Benjamin that I had gone out with other guys before..."

"Right," Dean said, "and so you want me to shut up about our short relationship," he guessed.

Ginny nodded awkwardly.

"No problem, Gin," Dean said, "it's not as if we've been together for that long anyway, is it? What about Michael Corner, though?"

"Oh, well, Cho knows about Benjamin and me, because she is doing the training at St. Mungo's too, and she will try to cope Michael's attention for the evening. They are not together anymore, but Cho thinks she might be able to get him interested in her long enough. I don't think he will have the cheek to come back to me after flirting with her in front of everybody."

Ginny and Dean turned to look at Cho. She was indeed talking with Michael Corner on the other side of the room. She winked at Ginny, and then went back nodding at whatever nonsense the boy was telling her.

Someone else was looking at Cho too. Harry had lost track of the conversation long ago. Most of the members of Dumbledore's Army had congregated around Ron, Hermione and himself, and Ron was telling them how his family had been attacked during the summer and how they had narrowly escaped. Harry knew it all already, so he had been scanning the room, until he had seen Cho talking to Michael Corner. Ginny had told them they weren't together anymore, but it looked as if they might give it another try, because Cho seemed very interested in whatever Michael had to say. Harry felt a pang of jealousy. He wanted to think he was over Cho, but he had to admit it was probably too soon yet. He had fancied her for too long. And she was looking beautiful today in her red mini and her white T-shirt.

Hermione was scanning the room too, she knew already all about the attack on the Burrow. A tall albino girl leaning on the wall alone caught her attention. She had met Anastasia Zucchini in St. Mungo's the night of the Death Eaters' attacks, they had been both working under Professor Snape's supervision, preparing some potions. She refilled her glass with juice and went over to her.

"Hi! Remember me? We met in St. Mungo's," she said.

"Hermione Granger," Anastasia said smiling, "nice to see you again. You were part of that 'Dumbledore's Army' I've heard about?"

"Yes," Hermione said, "are you going to stay with us during the summer?"

Anastasia nodded. "My mother is still in St. Mungo's," Hermione looked worried, so she added: "she is much better now, but the healers want to keep an eye on her for a while. It's good for her too, she's catching up with her hobbies, she has never much time when she is working." Anastasia paused for a moment. "She was very happy when I got Professor Lupin's owl, you know. She couldn't sleep thinking I was alone at home."

"Of course," Hermione said, and tried to lighten the mood of their conversation a bit. "It will be fun, you'll see. Harry and Sirius have been helping Professor Lupin prepare the classes. Harry says it's going to be a kind of duelling club, but a real one, not like the duelling club Lockhart organised years ago. Were you there?"

"Oh, yes," Anastasia said laughing and rolling her eyes, and both girls went on talking about that 'inspiring' session for a while.

Someone else had noticed Anastasia too. Fred and George had been talking to Lee about their new inventions, but George hadn't been listening to them for a while. He had had a crush on Anastasia Zucchini since their third year, but she had soon started to date Flint, and George had never got the chance to say a word to her apart from 'Could you please pass another Bouncing Bulb?' in Herbology, where the Gryffindors and the Hufflepuffs were together. But now Flint was dead... George looked longingly at Anastasia's face and steeled himself, he would talk to her this time, it was too much to ask that life would throw them together again any time soon. Now they were both out of school and who knows when they would meet again? He had five weeks to get her attention, and George promised himself this time he would.

George turned his attention back to Fred's words when his mother joined Anastasia and Hermione with a jar full of juice, offering to replenish their empty glasses. Mrs. Weasley moved then over to Neville, who was now talking animatedly with Remus Lupin.

"Any more juice?" She offered.

Lupin and Neville thanked her but shook their heads and showed her their butterbeers. Molly left them to their talking.

"I really hope you come back, Professor," Neville was saying, absolutely amazed that he had found the courage to tell his old professor that.

Lupin smiled, remembering what Sandrine had told him about Neville missing his classes. "I probably will," Remus admitted shrugging, "everybody seems to be convinced I should. Who am I to disappoint so many people? But I still have a couple of days to give the Headmaster my answer, and I'm planning to make the most of them. I want to see too how tomorrow's class goes."

"We are starting tomorrow then?" Neville asked gleefully.

"Yes, but it will be a light class, just to test your skills and see what we should practice more," Lupin explained. "Will you be able to be there? Ginny told me you are on the training program at St. Mungo's," he said.

"Yes, but Mrs. Santos decided we could take the rest of the month off, so that we wouldn't miss your first lessons. We'll go on with the training the 1st of August."

"Mmmm! So I have you all at my disposition for a whole week... interesting!" Lupin said lifting his eyebrows before taking a sip of his butterbeer.

"What's so interesting?" Sandrine asked, coming between them to offer them some sandwiches. Neville took two, and so did Lupin.

"Neville just told me I have them all for a whole week. Pity nobody told me before so I could reschedule the classes, but I still have time to do it tonight." Lupin added as an afterthought.

"Mrs. Santos just told me before leaving, I think it was a last minute decision. Nobody thought in telling her we would be attending your classes too." Neville explained guiltily.

"That's ok, Neville, I was joking," Lupin assured him. "But I really think it's a good thing, because we can have double sessions this week, one in the morning and another one in the afternoon. I'll think about it and we can talk it over tomorrow at breakfast."

Neville nodded.

"Beware of Neville this year, Remus," Sandrine said in a mysterious tone. "He's got a new wand now."

Lupin turned to Neville.

"My old wand broke the night we were in the Ministry. Well, it wasn't really mine. It was my father's. Grandma wasn't too happy when I told her I had broken it."

Lupin and Sandrine exchanged understanding glances while Neville was lost in thought, looking at the floor. He then took a huge bite of the two sandwiches he had taken from Sandrine's tray.

"Neville!" Sandrine scolded him. Neville turned a bit red, but then Lupin took a bite of his two sandwiches too.

Sandrine rolled her eyes. "And here was I encouraging you to go back to Hogwarts. Maybe you are a bad influence after all, _Professor Lupin_," she said, shaking her head in disbelieve.

Neither Neville nor Lupin could answer her, though, because they were still munching their food, trying hard not to choke.

Sandrine sighed. "Any more sandwiches? You might as well take some reserves now I'm here..."

Neville and Lupin looked at the almost full tray and then at each other.

"Poor Sandrine, carrying that heavy tray around the room all of the time," Lupin said with a worried face, "just leave it here, we'll take care of it."

Sandrine looked speechless for a moment, and Neville and Lupin laughed openly at her. She narrowed her eyes and lifted her nose up in the air.

"Very well, but I must warn you there is banana and chocolate cake for dessert," she told them.

Neville's and Lupin's eyes rounded in delight. "Auntie Sandrine's banana and chocolate cake is the most delicious thing I've ever eaten in my life," Neville told Lupin.

"So you think we should leave some sandwiches in the tray?" Lupin asked concerned.

Neville thought for a moment: "Neeee," he finally said, "I'm sure we can finish it all."

Sandrine shook her head again in exasperation and left the tray suspended in mid-air between the two of them before striding purposefully to where Yamiko stood, making some more sandwiches.

***

When the adults had finally gone to bed, Dumbledore's Army reunited again silently in the bedroom that Harry, Ron, and now Neville, shared.

Angelina Johnson was the first to speak. "All right, you've told us all about the attacks during the summer, but what about those ashanriis, eh? You can't imagine our surprise when they told us what they were. We all -or almost all- had heard before about ashanriis, but we had no idea they really existed. How are they? Are they going to help us defeat He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named?"

"I think you mean _Voldemort_," Harry said pointedly, and there was an uncomfortable silence in the room.

"Yes, yes," Angelina said, "Vol... Voldemort," she added with great effort, and then looked around nervously, as if expecting the dark wizard to materialise in the room any moment.

Hermione tried to explain as best as she could what they had learned so far. When she finished, some people looked a little bit lost.

"Let me get this straight," Seamus Finnigan said from Ron's right, "the ashanriis are magical beings, right? They are something in between a normal witch and a fairy." Hermione nodded. "There are different castes of ashanrii, but only three of them are really powerful," Seamus recited, "fuocciris, jilguereis and... and..."

"Dansarines," Neville finished for him, "the three main castes are fuocciris, jilguereis and dansarines. My aunt Sandrine is a dansarine." Neville went on saying.

"That's the blonde one, right?" Dean asked.

"Yes, that's Sandrine," Neville confirmed. "Then the other woman you've met today, Yamiko, she is a fuocciri. The fuocciris are the Guardians of the Fire. Fire is their main weapon, and most of them can turn into dragons, probably because dragons breath fire, I'm not sure."

"And Yamiko has a younger sister then?" Cho asked.

"Yes," Harry replied, "her younger sister is called Samako. They look very much alike, but you'll be able to tell one from the other easily, because Samako, the youngest, has short hair, and she is taller too."

"Hermione mentioned a mermaid too," Parvati said thinking hard.

"Yes, her name is Sha-adi," George explained, "you'll probably meet her soon, she comes and goes quite a bit. She has long green curly hair, and she is very beautiful too. And she is a jilguerei. The jilguereis are the singing ashanriis."

"Right, and you said Sha-adi the mermaid had an older sister, Amanda," Luna said.

"Yes, Amanda is a jilguerei too," Neville said," she has long dark hair and very strange blue eyes. It's as if their hue changed sometimes. Amanda is Professor McGonagall's niece."

"How do you know all that?" Hermione asked a little bit put off. "We haven't met her yet. We know of her only what we have heard from Sirius."

"I've met them all before," Neville explained shrugging.

"What?" Fred asked impressed. "You knew them already?"

"Well, yes," Neville said, "I've stayed sometimes with Aunt Sandrine during the summer. She shares a flat with Amanda, Sha-adi and the boys, and sometimes the Sams, Yamiko and Samako, were there too, on holidays."

"And what about the boys?" Lavender asked. "They look quite good," she said, and all the girls in the room save Hermione started to giggle, to the boys' annoyance.

"Edvard is the oldest one," Ron explained, "he must be around Sirius' age. He is Sandrine's cousin. He is a werewolf too, like Professor Lupin, and he teaches DADA at Beauxbatons."

"Then there is Michel," Harry said, "he is the blonde one. He must be around Percy Weasley's age. He is Sandrine's brother and thus, Edvard's cousin. He is a healer, but he is actually working on researching a cure for lycanthropy."

"Benjamin is helping him," Ginny added. "He is the brother of Amanda and Sha-adi. He works as a healer at St. Mungo's, he is tutoring Neville during the summer too. And he was in my brother Percy's year at Hogwarts, so they are the same age. And although Benjamin is Professor McGonagall's nephew, he was in Slytherin, but he is ok, really."

"Yes, he is," Neville, Cho and Susan Bones said at the same time.

Everybody laughed.

"Shhhh" Harry hushed them. "You are going to wake up everybody."

"And what do the girls do for a living?" Katie Bell asked.

"Sandrine works as a muggle nurse in a muggle children hospital," Hermione said. "Yamiko is a fuocciri teacher in the Fire Castle, but she is on holidays now. Her younger sister, Samako, teaches Egyptology in a muggle university in the USA. Sha-adi has her own kindergarten, and Amanda works in a muggle lab."

"I wonder how they met," Susan Bones said. "I mean, they are from different countries, from different ashanrii castes, they aren't even the same age... It's not as if they could have met at school, is it?"

They all thought for a moment.

"Yamiko told us once that the ashanriis travel a lot around the world. Maybe they met on the beach during the holidays or something," Harry joked, and there was some scattered laughter again.

After a while, Lee Jordan asked what they all wanted to know:

"And what about us? We are here to take Lupin's classes, but... do you have any other plans? Is there anything we could do to help defeat... Voldemort," Lee said, and smiled triumphantly because he had been able to utter the Dark Lord's name.

The Weasleys, Harry and Hermione looked at each other. "We haven't really been doing anything," Ron said shrugging. "I mean, we haven't had much time, after being attacked and all that... we've just tried to enjoy our holidays for a change."

"Ok," Luna said, "but now we are here, we can think about something. We are Dumbledore's Army, aren't we? We are not going to sit and wait until Voldemort strikes again."

Harry could feel everybody looking at him, waiting for a reply. "I don't really know what we could do," Harry said shaking his head. "I don't think we are ready to fight on our own yet," he admitted, "I think the best thing we could do is try to learn as much as possible during Lupin's classes and maybe research some hexes on our own. Some healing charms wouldn't come amiss either." He looked at Ginny.

"We could teach you all some healing charms, if you want," Ginny said, "Neville, Susan, Cho and me, we've learned lots in less than a month."

Neville, Susan and Cho nodded to show their agreement.

"That would be perfect," Harry said. "Now I think we should all go to bed. I've been helping Professor Lupin prepare the classes, and I can tell you you're going to need all the rest you can get tonight."

There was an excited murmur around the room. Dumbledore's Army was ready to fight.

***

Although he had been the one to send everybody to bed, Harry couldn't sleep. He had probably eaten too much. He had had trouble finishing the third helping of Sandrine's delicious cake, but he still hoped there would be some left for breakfast. He went to the kitchen to get himself a glass of water. He thought everybody would be sleeping, but he couldn't have been more wrong.

Through the kitchen's open window, Harry could hear whispering voices in the backyard, and then silence once more. Naturally curious, he tiptoed to the window and leaned over to see who could be outside so late at night. He took a step backwards immediately when his curiosity was sated, Ginny and Benjamin were outside, and it looked like they wouldn't be talking again any time soon, their mouths were quite busy at the moment. Harry shook his head in disbelief. Weren't Ginny and Dean together? Well, it was none of his business anyway, so he'd better just drink the water and go back to bed.

He walked slowly upstairs, with his hands in the pockets of his pyjama, wondering why everybody was so lucky but him. Ron had Hermione, Ginny had Benjamin -and Dean!-, Cho had Michael Corner. Why couldn't he find someone too? Of course, maybe it was better this way. He was going to die soon anyway. There was no way he was going to defeat Voldemort.

When he reached his bedroom, Harry didn't feel like sleeping anymore, so he went on walking until he reached the small trap to go to the roof. Harry opened it and felt the cool air of the night caress his face. He jumped a bit and climbed to the roof. He stepped carefully on the gables and went to sit on the border of the roof with his arms around his bent legs and his chin resting on his knees.

The fields looked quiet, and in the distance he could see the few lights of Samrai, the small village they had visited that morning. What a day! In the morning they had met Bantu, and in the evening Harry had seen Cho again. Maybe Sandrine's cake wasn't responsible after all for his lack of sleep. And since Dumbledore had told him about the prophecy, Harry had been carrying around a heavy responsibility too. He wanted to talk to Sirius and Professor Lupin about it, but he hadn't found the moment. He could have told Ron and Hermione, but he didn't want to worry them even more. Let them be happy for a while. They worried enough about him already.

The gables creaked behind him, and Harry turned around quickly, immediately regretting not having taken his wand with him. When was he going to learn? But it was only one of Yamiko's dragons, looking at him with its head to one side, as if studying him.

The dragon didn't look aggressive. "Good evening," Harry said tentatively. To his surprise, the next moment the dragon had disappeared and Yamiko stood in its place.

"Good morning," Yamiko said smiling. Harry thought she was probably right, it wasn't so dark anymore, the new day was approaching.

Yamiko walked carefully down the roof and sat beside Harry, resting her chin on her bent knees as Harry had done a moment ago. She stared at the tiny lights of the far away village, but didn't say a word.

"I couldn't sleep," Harry finally said, looking at her profile.

Yamiko smiled, still looking at the horizon, and said: "Me neither."

Harry bit his lips nervously. "Is it... is it because of Bantu?" He asked.

"Yes," Yamiko said.

"What was that about... about the Chosen Five and the Greatest Ashanrii of All Times, and...?" Harry didn't dare go on, he wasn't sure if Yamiko knew he, Ron, Hermione and some others were supposed to help the Chosen Five.

Yamiko didn't speak for a while, then she unbent her legs and let them hung out of the roof while she grabbed the gables with her hands. She kept her eyes fixed on the distance, as if looking at Harry was too difficult for her, and then she told Harry a very long, long tale:

"Many years ago, there was a very wise old fuocciri who could predict the future. She is known as the Great Prophetess. All of her predictions have come true through the centuries... save one.

"She prophesised that in the twentieth century, when the Second Wizarding World War started, two of the three most powerful ashanrii castes would fall: the jilguereis and the dansarines, because their Princesses would be killed.

"During the Second Wizarding World War in this century, the first one against Voldemort, the Princess of the dansarines was indeed killed. The dansarines were one of the three most powerful castes of the ashanrii. It was a big blow to all of us to loose them. Because without a Princess, the surviving dansarines won't be able to pass their magic to the future generations. Which means, when the dansarines now alive die, their magic will die with them forever.

"This Prophetess, her name doesn't matter, had predicted too the death of the Princess of the jilguereis. And that was the first of her predictions that hasn't come true, because although the Princess of the jilguereis at the time was killed, she had given birth to a girl some weeks before that, and that baby survived, saving with her the magic of the jilguereis.

"There is another prophecy from this woman, one that says the ashanriis will be erased from the face of the Earth, killed one by one by their enemies, before the Third Wizarding World War of the twentieth century ends. Now that war is about to start, and many people fear our death is imminent. That's the reason nobody wants to take sides, no one wants to anger Voldemort, because they hope he will ignore our people, and we will survive."

Yamiko paused for a moment.

Harry was feeling a knot in his stomach. "What about Bantu?" Harry asked. "What about the Chosen Five?"

Harry thought for a moment that Yamiko hadn't heard him, because she hadn't even blinked at his question, but he was wrong, because she answered him:

"Shortly before the first war against Voldemort began, Bantu came to the Fire Castle and begged to be received by Princess Yokiro's mother, who was the fuocciri Princess back then. My mother, as one of the most important fuocciri soldiers, was always present in the Throne Room when the Princess received visitors. My mother described Bantu to me as an old woman who walked tremulously up to the throne, bowed, and then sat on the floor respectfully, but who spoke with total authority and security, not wavering once in her discourse, her strange colourless eyeballs looking defiantly at them all.

"Bantu told them she had had a vision. She told them the Princess of the dansarines would indeed be killed soon, but the Princess of the jilguereis would survive the war. Nobody believed her at the time, because that contradicted what the Great Prophetess had predicted all those centuries ago, and nobody dared doubt her word, since until then all her prophecies had come true through the centuries.

"But it turned out that Bantu was right. When the war ended, Bantu disappeared as suddenly as she had come into our lives, and nobody heard from her again in a very long time.

"But then, one day, some fifteen years ago, I was walking in Samrai, when I saw an old woman sitting on a corner of the market square with her head bowed. Her clothes were dirty and ragged, and she was begging for food. I took pity on her, and gave her a basket full of food. Then she lifted her head to me, and I saw her eyes, and I knew instantly it was her. Bantu was back.

"She begged me to accompany her to her house, the one you where in, because she said she couldn't carry the basket on her own. I agreed, and followed her, although in my heart I had the feeling I shouldn't do it.

"When we reached her door, she didn't stop, but went inside, so I followed her with the food. I looked around nervously, and then I looked at Bantu again. She was sitting at her table, like yesterday when I found you there, and suddenly she didn't look to me like a poor old woman anymore. I could feel her power, she might be old, but she was still very strong.

"She asked me to sit down and I couldn't reject. It was as if I was hypnotised. And then she told me. She told me that the ashanriis had still a chance to survive. She told me that, when the Third Wizarding World War of the twentieth century started, there would be five ashanriis that would rebel against their Princesses and refuse to remain neutral. Those five women would give their lives to save the one person the Dark Lord most wanted in the world. And then... then the most incredible thing would happen. An ashanrii would be born some time later, and she would be so powerful that while she lived all the ashanriis would leave in peace and darkness wouldn't stand a chance.

"But this powerful ashanrii, though only a baby, would realise that power is nothing without knowledge, and thus she would rescue the five rebels from the death, because only they had been clever enough to realise darkness wouldn't fade away unless they fought it. The five rebels would be her teachers."

Yamiko was silent once more.

"So those five rebels..." Harry said, "they are the Chosen Five, aren't they?"

Yamiko turned to look at him for the first time, and Harry was surprised by the power emanating from her black eyes.

"Yes, they are the Chosen Five."

"And why did Bantu tell _you_ and not the Princess?" Harry asked, but suddenly he didn't need to hear the answer, because he already knew it.

"Wait," he said, "you are one of them, aren't you?"

Yamiko smiled sadly at him, and then turned again to the horizon before going on with her story.

"When Bantu told me all of this, I wondered too why she hadn't gone to the Fire Castle again to talk to the Princess. Why was she telling _me_?

"And then she took my hand in hers and looked at the lines on it," Yamiko said, taking her left hand from the gables and lifting it to look at it as if seeing the lines there for the first time.

"She said I am one of the Chosen Five. My sister Samako is another one. She didn't know who the other three were, but she knew they are not fuocciris."

"And you are scared because you are both going to die?" Harry asked softly.

"No," Yamiko answered shaking her long black mane, "I'm sorry to know that my younger sister has to die, I'm sorry to know that I'm going to die and my sons will be alone, but I'm not scared of that. If with my life I can save the ashanriis, then my life couldn't end for a better cause. No, that's not the reason.

There was a very long pause, and Harry wondered if Yamiko would ever tell him what she was scared of. What could be worse than knowing your sister and yourself were going to die? Yamiko did indeed tell him:

"I'm scared because of something Bantu told me.

"She told me, the Chosen Five would die, because _one_ of them would fail the others.

"She said _I_ was that one."

Harry didn't know what to say, and before he could speak, Yamiko had gone on:

"I've spent the last fifteen years of my life doing everything I could to avoid that day from coming. The day I would fail my friends, but... everything seems to have been fruitless. Bantu insists I will, in the end, fail them.

"Since the day Bantu spoke to me for the first time, I've avoided her as much as I could. I always bring her food, because I don't want her to die of hunger either, but I've never talked to her again. I even forbade her to speak about this to other people. But you saw yesterday she doesn't respect my orders much."

"Does your sister know?"

"Yes. They all do," Yamiko said.

"They all?" Harry asked puzzled.

Yamiko turned to look at him once more. "Harry," she said, "Bantu doesn't know who the other three Chosen are, but I do. I've known it from the beginning."

Harry's eyes rounded in surprise and sudden understanding. "Sandrine..." he whispered.

Yamiko nodded. "Yes, Harry. Sandrine, Sha-adi, and her sister Amanda. They all will die... because of me."

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Thanks for the reviews!

Thanks all for reading and reviewing!

Sorry it took me so long to update this time. :-(

In this chapter I've tried to present again the main ashanriis in the small meeting Dumbledore's Army celebrates in Harry's room. Let me know if it has helped you understand the story or if you still have doubts or questions about my characters. And I hope you understood Yamiko's story about the Chosen Five, because it's very important.

In the following chapter we'll go back once more to Malfoy Manor.

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Kadi Rilla Wholi: I can't tell much about Amanda's mother yet, but let's say she fell in love with the wrong man, realised her mistake in time, and tried to correct it, but in doing so, she had to sacrifice herself.

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hermionegreen: Amanda wanted to believe at first that Snape was Dumbledore's spy, but at the end she thought she had been wrong, because she realises he wasn't spying on Lucius, but searching for some information to help him, and Caesar and the others behave as if they already knew he was there -which they did. So now she thinks he is a bad guy.

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LyssasPen: As you can see, in this chapter we have gone back to Harry & Co. My intention is to alternate chapters between Yamiko's house and Malfoy Manor, until Amanda leaves the Malfoys, but as the rest of the story is not written yet, I can't tell for sure.

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Katiekins: I don't think so, but let's see. ;-)

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dweem-angel: Sorry, it took me longer to update than usually. I hope the chapter was worth the wait. ;-)

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PaigeGirl-nee: Thanks! Here it is. ;-)

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shadowycat: Thanks for taking the time to review several chapters at once. Yes, my muse has been hyperproductive lately. :D Thanks for your encouraging words too, I'm really glad you like my story.

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BBOO: What makes you think Amanda would make Sirius happy? Be careful with what you wish, you could not like it when it comes true... :D

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Lupin: I'm glad you liked this chapter. There will be more fighting soon. You don't expect me to write my age here, do you?! :D You can check my profile, you'll find it there. ;-) And thanks for recommending my fic!

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Lily Skylo: I don't think the chapter turned out to be as funny as I had in mind, but there are some funny bits -I hope. ;-) 

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Mad-Eye Moody: Thanks very much! I hope this chapter helped you to differentiate my girls better. Yamiko is so respected because she belongs to a very ancient fuocciri family. All of her ancestors have been brave warriors and have saved many lives, that's why people are so thankful. She teaches a bit of everything: charms, potions, duelling -not only magically, but also with weapons-, and also muggle subjects, like music, history and so on.

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Starfire: Appearances can be deceiving... Let's see what happens in later chapters...

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Meher: Thanks! It was really hard to write. I'm glad the effort was worth it. I hope you enjoyed this chapter too. ;-)


	25. To The Rescue

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Disclaimer: The characters that look familiar to you belong to J. K. Rowling. The ones you cannot find in any of her books are mine. I don't intend to make any money out of this. I'm just having some fun.

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To The Rescue

Snape was crouched in a very uncomfortable position, waiting for the signal. The night was cool and the air was very humid. They had been approaching the castle under the protection of the night. Voldemort wasn't with them -which Snape was grateful for-, but he had sent almost an army to rescue Lucius. Voldemort could be a monster, _was_ a monster most of the times, but he was no idiot, he knew he needed Malfoy at his side, Lucius was a very powerful wizard.

They weren't sure if the other Death Eaters imprisoned were in the castle too, and they weren't sure about the wards protecting the solid stone structure, but they had to give it a try.

Since the Dementors had joined Voldemort, the Ministry couldn't use Azkaban anymore. The old prison had become Voldemort's sick playground. That's where the aurors captured alive were tortured for information. The Dementors were having a feast too often for Snape's taste. The Ministry had finally decided to use different buildings across the country as prisons. The idea was to keep the Death Eaters imprisoned in different places, so that it would make the rescue more difficult. If Voldemort decided to come looking for his captured followers, he would only be able to free one or two at a time.

Castle Heathcliff had been an imposing building many years ago, but since the death of the last Heathcliff, the building had been left abandoned and now it looked more like a ruin than a castle. Since the ghosts of the Heathcliffs still lurked around the area, the muggles didn't dare approach it, which had turned out to be a good thing for the Ministry, as they didn't even need to put Muggle-Repelling charms in the building to keep the non-magical people away.

On the other hand, the lack of apparent magical protection in the building had been successful in making Voldemort think that the castle was really empty, and thus the Death Eaters hadn't truly searched it. Only when the dark wizards had searched all over the country without finding a single trace of Malfoy had the Dark Lord decided that maybe Castle Heathcliff deserved some serious consideration. Pettigrew, in his rat form, had been the best prepared for scurrying between the fallen rocks and the broken glasses and get inside the now angsty looking walls. Then he had reported what he had seen: the building was almost empty, but in the top floor, there was light, and at least twelve aurors paraded the corridors. Pettigrew had checked all the rooms, and only one was closed and heavily warded. The rat had waited patiently, and finally his time had been rewarded: Lucius' voice had come out of the room, complaining that the steak tartar was almost burnt.

And now here they were, almost ready to storm the castle and rescue one of the vilest men in the world.

"Snape!" someone hissed from his right, "time to go!"

Snape nodded and started advancing to the castle, his back hunched and his wand ready. The mass of black shadows walking to the building would have looked innocently enough from the top floor of the castle if it weren't because the aurors had been warned a few moments ago and were frantically searching for any single movement.

"They are coming," Hestia Jones said from the south window.

Moody and Tonks nodded and went to alert the other aurors.

"Are you ready Shacklebolt?" Moody asked with a dry mouth.

***

Snape was still cursing himself for not having been able to alert Dumbledore in time. Now he would have to fight against the aurors and help rescue Lucius. And the worst of all was that the aurors guarding Malfoy wouldn't know he was on their side, so he would have to truly hurt them to make it alive out of the building. He hated these situations. He was completely alone. He had to fight with his enemies and against his own people. This was going to be difficult.

The Death Eaters had reached the top floor without encountering any opposition. They were starting to feel quite sure of themselves. Rescuing Malfoy would be very easy. It was lucky that the Ministry was in such a disarray at the moment, because nobody seemed to have taken the necessary precautions to ensure Malfoy wouldn't be freed.

Tonks paraded the corridor feigning complete boredom, but the truth was that she was very alert, straining to hear any noise, to sense the unwelcome presence of the enemy before they attacked. She knew they had to be there already, they had had time enough to get to the top floor.

The Death Eaters were indeed at the top of the stairs, each of them occupying a step down the staircase. Their backs against the rock. Snape was the first of them. Two corridors ended in front of the stairs. In front of them there was a long one. It was brightly illuminated, but completely empty. Snape chanced a look at the corridor to their left. There was someone there...

Snape recognised the woman's pink hair immediately. What was Tonks doing here? The Ministry never sent the top aurors to guard prisoners, they were usually in the city, ready to leave any minute if there was a sudden attack or an emergency. How strange that she would be there. Maybe Lucius was better guarded than they expected.

He thought hard for a moment, trying to find a way to warn her, but there were other Death Eaters behind him, and they would notice, he couldn't risk it. The best thing he could do is attack first -and fail, of course-, so that the girl had time at least to take some cover.

"What are you waiting for?" A Death Eater whispered from downstairs. Snape thanked him silently for his stupidity. Tonks couldn't have missed that. He nodded to the other man, and then jumped in front of the corridor with his wand raised and shot a curse at Tonks. As he had expected, the girl was ready, and sent a hex his way before throwing herself to the floor and disappearing around the corner. Snape took cover and signalled to the other Death Eaters, who came then running into the corridor, one by one, flying curses in front of them to free their way -although there was nobody there. When the first Death Eater turned around the corner where Tonks had disappeared, he stopped dead in his tracks, what made the Death Eater following him crash into his back. The other Death Eaters, not seeing what was ahead and not expecting to find an obstacle, all hit the back of the man in front of them, and in the end there was a little black hill on the floor.

Snape came last, having waited to give the other Death Eaters some back cover, and stopped astounded when he saw the ruin. What was going on? A silent grunt made Snape's breath catch in his lungs. He didn't need to know what was awaiting them around the corner, he would never forget that languid menacing grunt until he died. Slowly, he raised his eyes to face the terrible monster: a gigantic three-headed dog. Snape cursed his luck, he had fought Fluffy before, and he hadn't come out of the fight very well served. In fact, he still wore the marks of the beast's teeth in his leg.

"Up, you fools!" He shouted. "That beast is going to eat us alive!"

The Death Eaters tried to stand and run for their lives, but they were tangled in each other's robes. Snape took off his mask and would have gladly taken off his clothes too. He was sweating. Then he started sending blocking hexes at the dog, but to no avail. Two of Fluffy's mouths were already munching something and blood was dripping to the floor.

The still uninjured Death Eaters started running back to the stairs they had taken to come up, and found their way blocked by aurors. They were trapped between the dog and the aurors, and they didn't know what could be worse. A bark behind them helped them clear their minds. The dog was definitely worse. The aurors would arrest them, not eat them.

The chaotic army of dark wizards conjured up some objects to give them some cover, formed a thick wall in the corridor and started hurtling hexes at the aurors, trying to free their way. In their fear of being devoured, they had all forgotten what they had come here for in the first place.

"Snape, what are we going to do?" Caesar's terrified voice asked. "We cannot leave my brother here, the Master will kill us all if we fail!"

Snape knew Caesar was right. The Master wouldn't be happy if they didn't bring Malfoy back. The rest of the Death Eaters sent to the mission were expendable, but Snape, as the man in charge, had to ensure that at least the two Malfoys, Pettigrew and himself made it out of this trap.

"Pettigrew!" Snape shouted, "go back and get Lucius!"

"What?" Pettigrew's eyes almost popped out of his mouth.

"We have to get Lucius! You are the only one who can pass by that dog without being killed. He won't even see a small rat."

"You are mad," Pettigrew managed to say.

"Imperio!" Caesar shouted suddenly, pointing his wand at Pettigrew. The man was immediately under the effects of the Unforgivable. "Turn into a rat and get my brother," Caesar ordered, and immediately the man disappeared and the rat stood in his place.

Snape and Caesar, protected by the wall of Death Eaters fighting the aurors, followed the rat to the corner and watched the small animal pass by happily munching Fluffy unharmed, reach a closed door, turn into a man, blast the door away and enter. Pettigrew came back a moment afterwards, carrying a surprised and weak Lucius by the arm.

"What is going on here?" Malfoy demanded angrily, but didn't wait for an answer: Fluffy had just turned around, and was studying them with interest. Pettigrew seemed to be glued to the floor, and he had a dead grip on Malfoy's that wouldn't let him run away either.

"Run, you fool!" Caesar shouted, and Pettigrew started to run, following his instructions, but to Snape's, Caesar's and specially Lucius' distress, he started running _to_ Fluffy, not _from_ him, and he was dragging Lucius along.

"Noooooooo!" Caesar shouted. "In the opposite direction! In the opposite direction!"

Pettigrew stopped and turned around like a robot. Then he started running away, this time from Fluffy. The dog, apparently thinking that this was only a play, started pursuing the fleeing men.

"Faster, faster!" Caesar shouted in despair.

Pettigrew run so fast that he could have won the gold medal in any Olympic race. Under the effects of the Imperius curse, he could do things that he wouldn't have been able to do otherwise. Lucius, though, was not under the Imperius curse, and he couldn't run as fast nor free himself from Pettigrew's iron grasp, so he ended up tripping and falling to the ground, taking Pettigrew down with him. Fluffy was almost on top of them.

"Get up! Get my brother and run! Run!" Caesar shouted once more. And then he added. "Snape, DO SOMETHING!"

"Shut up, I'm trying to concentrate!" Snape was trying to break the anti-apparating wards on the castle. They had Lucius. They had to leave. But the wards were Moody's, no doubt about that, Snape could recognise the old wizard's mark. To their right, the wall of Death Eaters was thinning at an alarming rate. The Dark Lord wouldn't be happy with this.

In front of them, Pettigrew had thrown Malfoy over his shoulder as if he was a doll and was running again, Lucius' long hair was sweeping the floor and the man had lost every ounce of decorum and was screaming like a banshee.

"Snape," Caesar shouted, "we have to follow them, quick!"

Caesar started running in pursuit of Pettigrew, Malfoy and Fluffy, who had reached the far corner of the corridor by now. Snape cursed. Caesar had broken his concentration once more. And then run after him, trying not to skip in the blood that darkened the floor or the pieces of bitten flesh left by Fluffy.

When they reached the corner, they could see Pettigrew turn the next corner, still carrying a screaming Malfoy, Fluffy in hot pursuit. Snape had the impression that the dog didn't really want to catch the running wizards. It was like a play for him. He was chasing them to have some fun and was in no hurry to catch them, because there was no other explanation for it. If Fluffy wanted to get the men, he would have done it by now.

Caesar and Snape sprinted once more along the corridor, this one shorter, and when they reached the end they thought things couldn't get worse. They had run all around the building, and in the other end of the corridor stood the aurors, still blocking the stairs and fighting the other Death Eaters. And Pettigrew was running straight at them! He was going to give them Malfoy back!

"Nooooo!" Caesar shouted once more. "Back, baaaaaaaaack!"

Pettigrew turned and started running back, to Fluffy.

"No, no, run from the dog, from the dog!"

Pettigrew turned once more, but he hadn't given a single step yet when Caesar's voice sent another counter-order.

"No, don't run to the aurors, don't run to the aurors!"

"Get ready to run, Caesar," Snape shouted before sending a flash of light and hitting Fluffy's hind legs. The dog stopped and turned back, mad at the two small black figures at the end of the corridor for hurting him. He forgot about playing and started chasing Caesar and Snape, this time in earnest. Pettigrew behind him, still carrying Lucius, who had almost slipped from his shoulder by now and was hitting his head against the floor with every step Pettigrew gave.

Snape and Caesar were not under the Imperius curse, and thus they couldn't reach Pettigrew's fantastic speed. They had to do more than run if they wanted to survive.

Snape noticed a small door that he hadn't seen before, and opening it with his wand took Caesar's arm and made him turn and crawl into the room just in time to avoid Fluffy's vicious teeth. The dog stooped at the door and introduced a gigantic paw, trying to catch the men. The door was really small, though, and Snape and Caesar could protect themselves in the corners for a while, trying to catch their breath.

"Why did you have to put him under the Imperius curse?" Snape said angrily.

"We had to get Lucius!" Caesar protested.

"Yes, and to get him we are going to sacrifice more than twenty Death Eaters. And let's hope we can make it out of here."

"I don't get it," Caesar said, "it was as if the aurors had been waiting for us. How could they have known we were coming?"

"I don't think they did," Snape said, and he really believed it, "they must have realised we would come sooner or later to rescue your brother, and they wanted to be ready just in case. There can be no other explanation for Moody being here."

Fluffy's big paw was still lashing about the room, trying to get them.

"What now?" Caesar asked.

"Now probably Pettigrew has reached the Death Eater's barrier and crossed it, running to the aurors, who will be probably welcoming him and Lucius with their arms open," said Snape exasperated.

"I don't mean that, I mean, how do we get out of here?"

"The wards, I almost had them when you interrupted me, I'll try it again. Maybe we can disapparate. Let me think for a moment."

Snape concentrated as hard as he could, searching for a way to dissolve Moody's anti-apparating ward.

Meanwhile, outside the door, Pettigrew was climbing on top of Fluffy, carrying a now unconscious Malfoy from an ankle, because the dog was blocking his way, and he couldn't obey the voice in his head that told him to run if he didn't reach the other side of this hairy mountain.

Snape opened his eyes. "Right, anti-apparating ward down, we'd better hurry and leave before the aurors realise and put it up again."

"But we can't leave my brother here!" Caesar protested.

"Fine," Snape said. "How about you find a solution for a change instead of whimpering like a little girl?"

Caesar glared at Snape, but didn't reply. There wasn't much he could have said anyway. The only decision he had taken so far was putting Pettigrew under the Imperius curse, and it didn't seem to have had the wished for effect.

Just then luck seemed to smile at them. It was a small smile, but it was there nonetheless. Something had distracted Fluffy and the dog had taken his paw out of the room, although he wasn't walking away either. Snape and Caesar approached the door carefully, each from one side, and looked outside.

"Oh, no!" Caesar cried out in disbelieve as he saw Fluffy's heads snapping at Pettigrew and Lucius. It seemed the dog had finally noticed the strange weight on top of him.

Snape stared too. That proved his theory that an idiot was always an idiot, under the Imperius curse or not.

Caesar stepped outside the room only to fall down immediately, struck by an stunning spell.

Snape stepped back immediately as an ear-splitting noise pierced his ears. If there was music in hell, it had to be this.

To his astonishment, Lucius Malfoy stepped inside the room as fresh as a rose, well, with some cuts and bruises, but definitely looking much better than the last time Severus had seen him: just a moment ago, unconscious and hanging from Pettigrew's hand, who was grabbing his ankle with one hand and trying to defend himself from Fluffy with the other.

"What the..."

"Shhhh! It's me, Shacklebolt!" The new Lucius mouthed, more than said. Nothing would have carried above the hellish noise outside the room.

"What?" Snape couldn't believe his eyes.

"I'm going to infiltrate the Death Eaters. You'll have to make the Polyjuice Potion for me." The auror said, and showed him Lucius' wonderful mane in his hand.

"Are you mad?" Snape shouted, all precaution forgotten. "Do you know the risk you are going to run?"

Shacklebolt nodded. "The war has started, Snape, and Dumbledore wants more men near Voldemort. I volunteered."

"Yes, you are mad," Snape answered his own question, shaking his head in disbelieve. "Even if you could fool the other Death Eaters, Voldemort will recognise you the moment he sees you. You don't have the Dark Mark!"

Lucius-Shacklebolt smiled at Snape and shoved his robes up his arm. The Dark Mark was there.

"How..." Snape was speechless.

"Dumbledore knows some very powerful people. Someone made an ointment. I just have to spread it on my arm once every two or three days, and the mark will stay. We are not sure yet, of course, but we think I should be able to feel Voldemort's summon. If not, I'll just have to run for my life." The auror explained as if he was talking about the weather.

Snape couldn't even react for a moment.

"Madness," he finally said. "This is madness."

Shacklebolt grimaced at him and shrugged. "We have no time for discussion here. You grab the younger Malfoy and I grab Pettigrew. He fainted when I stunned Caesar and broke the Imperius curse on him, I guess it must have been the shock of realising he was sitting on top of a three-headed dog."

"What about the dog and that horrible sound?" Snape asked, shaking his head in the noise direction.

"Follow me and you'll see," Shacklebolt said.

They stepped outside the room and Snape saw to his left Hagrid playing a flute. Fluffy was snoring peacefully at his feet. Hogwart's gamekeeper nodded in Snape's direction, but went on playing the flute without interruption.

"Remember me to tell the Headmaster to make Hagrid take some lessons before ever getting close to an instrument again," Snape said.

Dedalus Diggle was on the other side of Fluffy, keeping an eye on an unconscious Pettigrew while Hestia Jones levitated the unconscious and battered body of the real Lucius Malfoy, now with very short hair. Snape grabbed the young Malfoy and waited for Shacklebolt, who went to grab Pettigrew.

"What will happen to the true Malfoy?" Snape asked.

"He'll be kept here. Castle Heathcliff has proved to be a safe prison after all, and it's not as if Voldemort is going to come and search for him again, because if everything goes according to plan, they will think _I_ am Lucius Malfoy, and you don't search for someone you think is by your side."

Snape shook his head, wondering what was going on in Dumbledore's head lately. Maybe the man was getting too old. His ideas were getting wilder and wilder everyday. The problem was that everybody seemed to be glad to follow his instructions without doubting them.

"Did you put the anti-apparating ward down?" Shacklebolt asked.

Snape nodded.

"Well, let's get out of here," Shacklebolt said, and with a popping noise disappeared to Malfoy Manor, carrying Pettigrew with him. Snape followed him.

Diggle and Jones hurried to bind Malfoy and hide him in a small room behind a portrait, and then alerted the other aurors that the plan had worked: they still had the real Malfoy and Snape had left with Shacklebolt.

"Now!" Moody's voice ordered, and suddenly more and more aurors started to come out of closed rooms along the corridor, with their wands pointed at the Death Eaters.

"Surrender your wands!" He shouted to the Death Eaters.

"Moody..." Tonks said to his right. "You want to get your eyes checked. Both. There is only one Death Eater standing."

Moody blinked rapidly several times and then looked again, in the middle of the corridor, a single figure stood, shaking, with his arms raised in surrender.

"Ah, right you are, Tonks, right you are. I was seeing double."

The aurors who had faced the Death Eaters together with Moody and Tonks let themselves fall to the ground, trying to catch their breath and checking their injuries. There were some aurors down, but it seemed none of them was dead.

The aurors who had just come out of their hiding places started separating the fallen Death Eaters and binding them before carrying them to a room where Dumbledore and the Minister would question them later.

***

Snape apparated a few inches from the fake Lucius, who was looking at Malfoy Manor with his mouth open. Shacklebolt let go a whistle.

"Well, that Malfoy knows how to live," he said, "I've been studying drawings of the house to be able to walk freely around without arousing suspicions, but I never thought it would be so impressive."

Snape was very nervous. This couldn't end well. "Listen, Sha-Lucius, if you don't find a room or someone finds you in a strange place, just say you got lost. I will tell them that you've suffered a slight commotion and you might have problems remembering some things. Caesar will confirm my words. He saw his brother's head bumping against the floor too."

Shacklebolt nodded.

"I'll give you another potion mixed with the Polyjuice, just to disguise the smell and the colour of the Polyjuice, Mrs. Malfoy could be familiar with it. It's a revitalising potion, but I'm not sure if it could have side effects mixed with the Polyjuice. If you feel bad, dizzy... or if you notice anything else, just let me know immediately, ok?"

"Right," Shacklebolt nodded.

"Ok, I'll stun you now."

"What?"

"I'll stun you now and then ennervate Caesar. It would seem a little bit strange that you could be able to walk normally to the house after what Pettigrew just put you through. We'll take you to the house unconscious and lay you in bed, and you'd better stay there a couple of days. Otherwise, someone could get suspicious."

"Right," Shacklebolt said.

"Give me the hair first," Snape said, extending his hand.

"What?"

"Malfoy's hair, it would be difficult to explain if someone found it on you," Snape explained in an annoyed tone.

"Oh, right, and I must take his wand too." Shacklebolt took Malfoy's hair out of a pocket and handed it to Snape, and then took a wand out of another and put his inside. "Secret pocket," he said smiling.

Snape shook his head. How strange was it to see Lucius smiling like that. Shacklebolt would be discovered in less than an hour. At least the Master couldn't blame him for rescuing an impostor, although he wouldn't be happy with it, and even less with loosing a good part of his new army of young Death Eaters... Well, the Dark Lord would make Snape pay sooner or later, no sense in worrying about it now.

Shacklebolt was looking at Snape, waiting for him to come out of his musings.

"Sweet dreams," Snape said in a not very convincing tone, and stunned Shacklebolt. Then he ennervated Caesar.

"What... what happened?" The young wizard asked, rubbing the back of his head and looking around with a pained expression.

"We are back at Malfoy Manor," Snape explained, "but I'm afraid the others have been captured by the aurors."

"Oh, no!" Caesar cried out, "the Master is going to kill us for loosing him his new precious soldiers."

"It's not our fault that he sent us with a bunch of kids," Snape said, "if he had let some of the other older Death Eaters come with us, we might have come back in a better shape and maybe even have captured some aurors. Those kids panicked, and I don't blame them. If my first mission had been like this, I would have probably been captured too. And it's not as if we took the time to give them orders, we were too busy running after that dog... of from it!" Snape run a hand through his tangled hair in despair.

Caesar just nodded, and stood slowly, cleaning his clothes of the earth settled there. "What about them?" He asked emotionless, pointing at Pettigrew and Lucius.

"We'd better levitate them into the house," Snape said, "I'm not sure they will be up to much walking."

With a tired nod, Caesar took his wand and started levitating the impostor Lucius back to Malfoy Manor while Snape followed, wondering if he could let Pettigrew fall a couple of times along the way without arousing Caesar's suspicions. He could always say that he was too tired to concentrate properly.

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Thanks for the reviews!

Thanks all for reading and reviewing!

Sorry about this chapter. I don't know why, but yesterday I was in a very strange mood. I seemed to find everything funny. :D The scene of Malfoy's rescue should have been only two or three pages long, but when Fluffly suddenly appeared into the story, I lost control on things. If you've laughed just a bit while reading this chapter, I'll be happy for the rest of the week!

In the following chapter, we'll go back to Yamiko's house and we'll attend -finally- the promised duelling class with Lupin.

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Iniysa: Thanks for reviewing again. I hope you enjoyed this chapter too.

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Lupin: Aaaaaaah! Yes, chapters have to end somewhere, that's the problem. But you have no reason to complain: in this chapter there has been finally some more action. :D

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dweem-angel: Thanks! I haven't been very busy at work lately, but that could change, so I try to write as much as I can now that I have the time. ;-)

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violet_yukina: Thanks! What did you think of this chapter?

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IhateCho: Thanks for your flame, it was very inspiring. The moment I read it, I had an idea for another fic! It will be short and I'll try to have it up this week. It's about the new sweet little innocent Umbridge -as you suggested. :D As I've said before, I'm not trying to guess what will happen in the 6th book. I'm just using Rowling's characters to have some fun, and yes, I take the liberty of changing them a bit as I see fit. I don't think Cho and Harry will end up together in Rowling's books, but in this fic, they probably will. If you don't like my fic, nobody is making you read it.

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Kadi Rilla Wholi: Ok, ok, chocolate frogs for you then. :-) Well, if Bantu's prophecy is right, yes, I'll have to kill my girls. But don't worry, I'll let them have some fun first. :D I'm telling nothing about the baby yet. ;-)

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Makalani Astral: Harry hasn't really found the moment to speak with Sirius and Lupin. To tell you the truth, he doesn't really want to. It's hard for him to admit he will have to kill Voldemort or be killed by him in the end.

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hermionegreen: Yes, the Chosen Five know about Bantu's prophecy. Yamiko would have wanted to warn them, just in case. And yes, Yamiko has told them everything she knows.

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LyssasPen: Thank you! Some more humour in this chapter, I hope you liked Fluffy's short appearance. ;-)


	26. Yamiko's Training Room

**Disclaimer: The characters that look familiar to you belong to J. K. Rowling. The ones you cannot find in any of her books are mine. I don't intend to make any money out of this. I'm just having some fun.**

Yamiko's Training Room

Although he hadn't had much sleep the previous night, Harry was full of energy that morning. He woke up early, went to the kitchen and buttered a couple of toasts, then he took another glass of juice before walking into the backyard of the Sam's house. The sun was smiling at him, and so were two men he considered his own true family.

"Already up, Harry?" Remus Lupin asked.

"Yes. Can I help you somehow?"

"As a matter of fact, yes," Lupin replied cheerfully, "Could you please remind your godfather that I am the boss here? He wants to change the lesson plan at the last minute and start today's lesson with Yamiko's training room. And I want to test the people first, as we had agreed at the beginning."

"I never agreed to such a thing," Sirius complained, but he winked at Harry, so he was only trying to make Remus mad.

Harry shook his head at his godfather. "I think Remus is right, Sirius, we should start with a little test."

Remus arched an eyebrow and lifted his nose up in the air at Sirius, daring him to complain now, but Sirius didn't see him, because he had already covered his face with his hands, feigning utter distress at his godson's treachery.

A clear laughter made Harry turn to his left. Yamiko was there, drinking some tea. She had been watching the two men's little argument for a while now. Harry went over to her and both of them observed amused as Remus and Sirius tried to hex each other repeatedly without much success.

Little by little, sleepy faces followed by unwilling bodies started coming out of the kitchen, and by ten, all the students were there, although some of them looked very much asleep yet.

"Ok, now that you are all here, we will go to the front of Black Manor, where we will start our first lesson. We'll come back here after lunch," Lupin said, and everybody followed him around the Blacks' house, Harry and Sirius bringing up the rear.

"Nervous?" Sirius asked.

Harry thought for a moment. "Not really. You?"

"A lot," Sirius admitted, "I didn't like much the look on Fred and George's faces, I'm sure they are up to something."

"It's ok," Harry said shrugging, "whatever it is, Remus will be ready for them, after all, he survived their antics back at Hogwarts for a whole school year."

"I want you to choose a partner and stand a few paces away, facing each other in the duelling stance," Lupin was saying, "we'll start with a small test of the basic duelling spells. When I say 'now', you'll be attacking your opponent and defending from him or her the best you can. You can choose the spells you want, but remember this is a class, so we don't want people bad injured, ok?"

Everybody rapidly found a partner, and at the end only Neville was left without one. He was blushing a bit, glad that Aunt Sandrine wasn't there to see nobody wanted to partner him.

"Neville," Lupin said, and beckoned him with his head to join him, he then put his left arm around Neville's shoulders, "before you join the rest, I'd like you to help me. Before we start, we'll have Harry and Sirius make a demonstration, and then Neville and myself will repeat it." Then he nodded to Harry and Sirius, who walked to where Lupin and Neville where and then took some steps in opposite directions before turning to face each other, their wands ready.

Lupin pressed his hand on Neville's shoulder and whispered: "Let's take some steps back, I know Sirius and Harry too well to trust them."

Neville smiled nervously and obeyed.

The movement didn't pass unobserved by Sirius and Harry, who smiled at each other, thinking that the summer was very long, and they would get Remus sooner or later.

"Ready?" Lupin asked aloud. Harry and Sirius nodded. "Now!"

Harry started with a defensive spell, because he guessed Sirius was going to attack him right away. He put a mirroring spell on himself and Sirius' hexes were deflected immediately, bouncing off Harry's body without harming him. Sirius jumped easily out of the way of his backfiring spells and dived to avoid Harry's stunning spell. In a flash, Padfoot was there, zigzagging up to Harry to avoid his spells. Harry tried to back away, but it was difficult. If he ran, Padfoot would be faster. If he stayed put, he would have to hit the dog soon. He finally decided not to move and try to hit his godfather. The closer he was, the easier he became as a target. Finally, Harry hit Padfoot's left leg and the dog whined in pain.

"Sorry!" Harry said, worried that he had really hurt his godfather, and went over to the dog, who was licking his leg.

Pity Harry didn't take a look at Lupin, because the defeated expression on his professor and friend's face would have told him Padfoot was only faking it. As he was only looking at the dog, he didn't see that, and when he kneeled in front of the dog to see if he could help him, Padfoot jumped at him. Before Harry could react he was laying on his back with a big black grinning dog sitting on his chest and licking his face. His wand was some feet away, he had lost it in his fall.

Many people laughed and applauded, and Sirius transformed back into a man and started to bow solemnly, what only made them laugh harder. Harry didn't find it so funny. Neville was helping him get to his feet.

"Well," Lupin said when the applause died. "What have you learned from this little encounter?"

Everybody thought for a moment. To everybody's surprise, Hermione wasn't the first one to speak, Neville was: "Never trust Sirius," he said very serious, and everybody laughed once more, even Lupin and Sirius.

"Well, yes, of course, never trust your _opponent," Lupin amended. "Until your adversary is disarmed and bounded, you can't be sure he is down. And don't forget that, although magic is our main defence, our enemies -and ourselves- can also use other resources to attack or defend us. For instance, Sirius here took advantage of his animagus form and his skills as an actor to fool Harry and make him lower his defences. You could also use physical strength, for instance, to grab your enemy's wand when he thinks you are his already. But always remember one thing: we are on the side of light, whatever happens, we won't resort to black magic and we won't be as low as the Death Eaters are, understood?"_

There was some nodding around the circle of students. Only a girl with white long curls blanched for a moment and looked at the floor.

"Very well. Neville, please?" Lupin said, and walked to where Sirius had stood at the beginning of his duel with Harry. There was a worried murmur around them. If Neville managed to hit Professor Lupin with one of his disastrous spells, this was likely to be their first and their last summer lesson.

Lupin nodded at Sirius, who took over his role as teacher for a moment. "Ready?" The animagus shouted. "Now!"

Lupin sent a disarming spell at Neville, but to everybody's surprise he dove in time and even managed to send a stunning spell back at Lupin before being disarmed in Lupin's second try.

Lupin caught deftly Neville's wand with his left hand and walked over to him to give it back. "Very well, Neville," Lupin said.

"What have you learned now?" He asked them all. Nobody seemed to be sure. "You need to have quick reflexes and you must be fast. While Neville was jumping out of the way the first time, he should have been already sending his own spell at me, but he didn't until he was already in a standing position. He still managed to try and stun me, which was really good," at this he looked encouragingly at Neville, "but he gave me time enough to disarm him and move aside to avoid his spell. Trained Death Eaters are going to move faster than you are used to. Apart from learning hexes and other spells, this summer we'll be training your bodies too. You must learn to improve your reflexes and your legs must be ready to jump, kneel, dive or, if the situation gets nasty, run." He made a pause to see how everybody was taking this. There were some unhappy faces, but most of the students seemed content with the news.

"After lunch you'll see our host's training room. It's a training room designed to train a fuocciri warrior, not a wizard or a witch, but I think we can benefit from it too. So in the morning we will be learning new spells and training our duelling skills, while in the afternoon we'll be training our bodies.

"Now I want each pair of you to stand in front of me. Each of you will duel your partner two times. If each member of a couple wins one time, they will face each other again to have a winner. Then the winners will be fighting against the winners of other couples, and the losers will be fighting against other losers. It doesn't really matter who wins or who loses. I just want to keep a track of how well you can do now and how well you can do at the end of the summer. Understood?"

Everybody nodded.

"Very well, any volunteers to start?" Lupin asked, conjuring up a quill and some parchment to take notes that floated in mid-air.

Ginny and Dean walked resolutely to where Lupin and Neville had stood and faced each other.

"Ready?" Lupin asked them. "Before we start, I think you should all check your wands, because I think some of you might be in for a nasty surprise."

Everybody looked puzzled for a moment, and then took out their wands. Some of them turned into rubber peacocks in their hands. Lupin raised an eyebrow at Fred and George Weasley, who grudgingly gave the true wands back, and then they proceeded with the class.

"Right," Lupin said. "Ready? Now!"

Flashes of light flew from Ginny's and Dean's wands. They both avoided being hit a couple of times, but finally Ginny hit Dean and stunned him. Their second duel was very similar, and Ginny was the winner.

"Ginny, to my right, please," Lupin said. "Dean, to my left. Who's next?"

The morning went on in this fashion and by the time Mrs. Weasley came out of the house to tell them lunch was ready they were all exhausted, some of them even rubbing their bodies where they were sporting small injuries.

During the meal, nobody felt very talkative. If all the summer was going to be like this, on the First of September they were going to be exhausted. Still, everybody was grateful they had been invited by Dumbledore and Lupin to partake in these lessons. Now more than ever was a time to get ready and fight.

In the afternoon Lupin let them rest for a while, and when the air turned a little bit cooler, they all stepped outside once more and stopped abruptly in their tracks as they lifted their heads and saw what awaited them: the smooth land in front of the Sam's house had turned somehow into a inhospitable place. Harry, Ron, Hermione and Neville, who had been in the Forbidden Forest near Hogwarts, wondered for a moment which place looked more scary. Somehow, knowing that Hogwarts was near the Forbidden Forest was kind of reassuring, but here... here there was nothing that made them feel protected.

High looming trees greeted them and blocked everything from view: the village down the valley, the mountains behind them... But the trees in themselves, although intimidating, would have been nothing if it weren't for the strange noises coming from the deep woods.

Many people blanched, and even Harry had his misgivings, until a clicking sound as that of a metallic box closing broke the silence and the vision disappeared.

Everybody turned in the direction of the sound. Yamiko stood there between Remus and Sirius, who were smiling. The woman held something in her hands, it was a tiny lacquered box painted in vivid colours. She opened the lid slowly so that they all followed her movements, and the forest appeared again. Many people oed and aed. Nobody could have guessed so much magic was stuck inside such a tiny thing. Then Yamiko closed the lid again, and the vision disappeared once more.

"This place you have seen is my training room. As you see, it's portable, which is very practical, because it allows me to train even when I'm far from home. I just need to find a retired place, open the lid of this tiny box, and then the room appears. You are probably thinking that 'room' is not the best word to describe the forest you've seen, and I must admit I don't know why these magical boxes are called 'training rooms', I guess it must be because, though when you are in front of the place it looks real and without apparent limits, in reality the 'training room' has four clearly defined walls, and you'll be able to see two of them if you come to where we are standing now."

Everybody moved eagerly to where Yamiko, Remus and Sirius were standing. Then Yamiko opened the lid again, and there it was: the forest. But this time they could see two distinct crystal walls in front of them, making a corner of the training room. Inside of them, the trees still looked very impressive.

"In this room there are several levels of training. Many people can train inside it at the same time, and they don't need to be working necessarily in the same level of difficulty." Some people raised their eyebrows and this. "Yes," Yamiko confirmed, "there are different levels of difficulty. I think you are going to start today with the lowest one, so that you can learn to find your way out of the room. It's not that difficult really, and you can be found easily from outside anyway, so don't worry about getting lost, because we'll be coming for you if it takes you too long to get out. Now, if we could all synchronise our watches..."

Harry looked nervously around. He felt a little bad about not having a watch. He hadn't thought about buying a new one since his old one had stopped working, and now he didn't like to admit it, but he couldn't very well go into the training room without a watch, because then he'd never know when to get out.

"I... I don't have a watch," he said, and exposed his bare wrist, "mine broke," maybe he could let out the time when it had broken, back in his fourth year at Hogwarts.

"You can have one of mine," Parvati offered, and gave him a small watch with blue butterflies flying all around it. It looked very girlish and Harry stared at it for a moment before taking it and thanking Parvati. "No problem," she said, "I like watches so much that I always wear two or three at least," she explained proudly, and showed them all her little collection of watches up her left arm, all of them in different colours and with different insects flying around. Hermione and Ginny looked at each other and had to cover their mouths with their hands to hide their giggles. Angelina was looking at Parvati as if she was demented.

"Well, if everybody has a watch now and has made sure they are in time," Yamiko brought them all back to the subject at hand, "we could get inside the room and there I'll give you some clues about how it works and how to find your way once inside."

Everybody nodded and they followed Yamiko into the room, although none of them looked really happy about it. It became immediately cooler and darker, and some of them shivered in their summer clothes.

"Do you see that tall tree with the pink leaves?" Yamiko asked, pointing at some high branches far away from them, a little bit to their right. Everybody nodded, a tree with pink leaves was difficult to miss, even in the wizarding world. "Well, that's the central point of the room, and it can be seen from everywhere. If you get lost, just look at it. You know you must walk from the tree to find the exit. There is no door, just walk through the glass wall as if it were made of thin air, which it actually is. Depending on which side of the room you are in, you'll find yourselves in front of my house, or you'll have to walk around the training room to get there. Understood?"

There was a round of nods, and then Yamiko went on explaining: "Well then, let's move on to more important matters. In this forest you will find many obstacles, branches blocking your way, rivers you must cross, burning woods you'll have to run away from, winds blowing with a ferocity you've probably never known before... Your mission is basically to get out of the room as fast as possible and as unharmed as possible. In this first level there are no real dangers. You can only hurt yourselves if you trip and fall, but nothing is going to hurt you. In the upper levels, the difficulties increase, and you will have to face animals, monsters and other enemies on your way. Professor Lupin thinks it's too soon to let you face such dangers yet, so in this level you'll basically train your body. You'll have to run, jump, climb, swim or dive to get out of the forest. That will help you win some strength, which will undoubtedly help you defend yourselves from your magical enemies."

Some people, like the twins and Angelina, looked excited, others plainly horrified, Hermione and the Patils among them. 

"Well now, if you are ready, we'll walk with you up to the pink tree, which is called Pinky by the way, and then we'll let you alone so that you can show us what you are capable of."

It didn't take them very long to get there, and the path was almost straight. Everybody was thinking this should be easy, but when they reached Pinky, Yamiko had bad news for them:

"Very well, you have an hour to get out. Please, your wands."

Nobody reacted at first. It couldn't be true, they had surely heard Yamiko wrong.

"So-so-sorry?" Neville stuttered.

"I'll take your wands with me, dears, you won't need them, you are supposed to get out of here by your physical strength only."

"But..." Lee Jordan started to protest.

"Imagine you are muggles," Professor Lupin interrupted him, "it shouldn't be so difficult. Sirius and myself have tried the room before, and there is really no danger at all. If you had your wands it would be too easy for you to get out, and the point of this exercise is to train your bodies, not to use your wands. We'll be doing that in the mornings."

"Can't we just do some aerobic?" Padma protested.

Lupin smiled at her for a moment, amused at her distress, but shook his head all the same. With much grunting and complaining, people started to take their wands out of their robes, when the noise of someone approaching made them all start. Who could be walking inside the training room besides them?

"Stay here!" Yamiko commanded in a whisper, and strode purposefully in the direction they had come from. She turned around a tree and they couldn't see her anymore. Barely seconds afterwards, the path in front of them started to disappear, closed by more high trees growing out of nowhere.

Minutes passed by and Yamiko still didn't come back. Sirius and Remus were straining to hear, but there were no unusual sounds. Sirius was looking at Remus every other second now, plainly asking him what they were going to do now. Who had been walking up to them and why didn't Yamiko return? Where they in danger?

Remus was regretting the moment he had accepted Yamiko's proposal. He had had his misgivings at the beginning, but he didn't want to sound ungrateful, and Yamiko seemed eager to have them use the training room. Maybe he should have tried the room a couple of times more before accepting her offer, see if there were any dangers Yamiko, as an ashanrii, might have overlooked. He finally shook himself. Regretting past decisions would take them nowhere now. He cleared his throat and spoke in a hushed voice:

"Hermione, Fred, George, Neville and myself will try to find the path back to the place where we entered the room and see if we can find Yamiko. The rest of you will wait here. If we don't come back in about fifteen minutes, try to find a way out, but don't follow us, because whatever is delaying Yamiko or ourselves could be lurking somewhere in that direction. Maybe you could try to walk in the opposite direction. And... whatever happens..." Remus swallowed, he knew Harry wouldn't like this, "whatever happens, don't lose track of Harry."

As Remus had guessed, Harry immediately started to protest, but Ron put a hand on his shoulder and squeezed it hard. Harry looked for a moment into the eyes of his best friend and knew he didn't have a right to complain. After all, whatever had come into the room was probably looking for him, and when they got him, what chances were there that the rest would be let out alive? He hated it, but Lupin was right. He needed to be protected.

With a last parting glance, Hermione, Fred, George and Neville followed Lupin into the web of branches and disappeared into the silent darkness, leaving behind them a shaggy black dog and a group of scared teenagers.

*****

**Thanks for the reviews!**

Thanks all for reading and reviewing!

I'm awfully sorry it took me so long to update. There were some problems with a project at work and when everything seemed back to normal my computer broke down. The technician kept my computer for a whole week! I hadn't realised until then how much hooked I was on the Internet. :-( Well, and when I finally got the computer back, there was again a big mountain of work waiting for me, so I didn't have a minute to spare. But I'm finally back, and hopefully I'll be able to update regularly as I used to.

I'm sure in the meantime most of my loyal readers will have probably lost track of the characters in this story, but I hope you'll remember all about them soon. ;-)

Thanks again for your patience. Let me know what you think of this chapter.

**PaigeGirl-nee: I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter. I hope you'll go on reading now I'm finally back. ;-)**

**hermionegreen: Don't worry about Shacklebolt at all, dear, he's going to be a fine Lucius. He's not playing the role so well now, because there is only Snape with him, but wait until he gets to Malfoy Manor... :-)**

**Kadi Rilla Wholi: We'll see Amanda again next chapter -which is almost finished. I'm glad you liked Fluffy. :-)**

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**Mad-Eye Moody:** Well, we'll be certainly going back to Hogwarts in this story, but that's a little bit far off yet. I hope you liked this chapter.

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**Makalani Astral:** Oh, Narcissa knows about the Polyjuice Potion alright, but don't forget that Hogwarts Potions Master will be around too, so Shacklebolt should do fine - I hope! :D

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	27. Hate And Love

**Disclaimer: The characters that look familiar to you belong to J. K. Rowling. The ones you cannot find in any of her books are mine. I don't intend to make any money out of this. I'm just having some fun.**

Love And Hate

The Dreamless Sleep Potion didn't work all that well for Amanda after all. She had woken up very early in the morning, and definitely not rested at all. And she had dreamed too, about footsteps...

Amanda almost jumped from her bed in shock: the footsteps were back again. She had thought they were part of a dream, but it seemed they were real. Maybe the Dreamless Sleep Potion had worked better than she had given it credit for.

Carefully, she tiptoed to the door of her room and waved a hand at it. Now she could see through the wood, but there was nothing to see in her corridor. The sound was probably coming from another floor.

In a hurry, Amanda showered and readied to go downstairs. She descended the stairs slowly, as if sleepy, although in truth she couldn't have been more alert. Soon she could hear whispers. She stopped in the middle of the stairs, listening intently to what the nervous voices in the next landing were saying.

"Take all your things. You must leave no proof that you have been here. The aurors will suspect anything, even a sock." It was Caesar Malfoy.

"Will you be ok alone?" Another voice asked. Amanda recognised the voice of the big-nosed man who had questioned her life as a muggle the night before.

"I won't be alone, Seth, you know, in case we had to fight, Snape and myself are capable of getting rid of ten aurors each without even blinking. After all, we were the only ones that escaped from that damned castle." Caesar paused, still shocked at how bad things had gone the previous night. "I don't expect we will have to defend ourselves anyway. It wouldn't be wise to start a fight with aurors in my brother's house, not when he is so weak. We have to let them search the house and hope they will find nothing suspicious to try and arrest us." Caesar explained in a tired tone, as if they had had this discussion before.

"I still think you should keep someone else with you. Our Master doesn't trust Snape completely, what if he is right about him and he turns out to be Dumbledore's spy or something?" Seth objected.

"Seth," Caesar sighed, "if the Master truly distrusted Snape, he wouldn't send him to important missions. And Snape is preparing again the potions the Master needs. Don't you think if he were trying to destroy the Dark Lord he would have plenty of chances to poison him? And even if he was a spy, I doubt very much that would really matter in this case. Snape is my brother's friend, Seth. You should have seen him tonight. He fought like none other. He saved us all, my brother, Pettigrew and myself. I don't know how we would have escaped if it weren't for him."

"You are probably right, Caesar, but I still don't like it," Seth protested, "at least let Pettigrew stay, the aurors won't even see him. It's easy for a rat to hide."

"And what help would Pettigrew be to us, pray, tell me, Seth?" Snape's voice asked acidly from the other side of the corridor. "Rats are cowards, Seth, Pettigrew would run away with his tail between his legs the moment things started to get nasty, unless Caesar here decides to put him again under the Imperius curse, which I hope he won't," Snape said looking pointedly at Caesar.

Then he added menacingly: "And Seth... If you ever dare doubt my loyalty to our Master again, you'll have to face me in a duel to defend your accusations."

There was a tense silence. Apparently Seth wasn't too kin on duelling Snape. He muttered some silly excuse that Amanda couldn't hear well from where she stood and then he departed. Or at least Amanda thought it was him, it was difficult to know which of the men had walked downstairs.

Then there was laughter.

"Congratulations, Severus, you have scared one of the most cold-blooded killers in the world," Caesar said still laughing.

Snape didn't answer immediately, but when he did, he changed the subject. "How is your brother feeling?"

"Much better," Caesar replied suddenly serious, "when I checked on him last he was sleeping."

"That should do him good," Snape said, with an approving grunt.

"Yes, and Narcissa will take good care of him," Caesar added, "I wish I had a woman who would take care of me like she takes care of Lucius. He is a lucky man."

There was an awkward silence while Amanda, Snape and Caesar thought about the same thing: last night's discussion in Lucius' secret study when Caesar had found Amanda and Snape kissing, or rather, Amanda kissing Snape.

Amanda steeled herself and started descending the steps, better face them both sooner than later.

"Good morning," she said when she reached their landing. "Any news about Lucius?" She asked innocently.

Caesar didn't seem to mistrust Amanda, but Snape looked upstairs with his eyes narrowed, as if he suspected Amanda had been listening to their conversation and knew already that Lucius had been rescued. Amanda kept her poker face.

"Good morning," Caesar answered a little bit stiffly, "Lucius is safe now. He is here, but we have hidden him in a secret room, just in case the aurors come in searching for him. Narcissa was with him when I left him a moment ago."

"Excellent," Amanda said sincerely, "do you think I could go and see them, or should I rather wait a bit?"

"Lucius was asleep a moment ago, he was in quite a bad shape when we found him. Snape has prepared some potions for him, but it will take a while for them to make effect. Maybe you should wait a couple of hours."

"Very well," Amanda said, and steeped pass the two men to go to the kitchen and have some breakfast, she couldn't though, because Caesar grabbed her arm as she passed.

"I think it's time we had a little conversation," Caesar said, and he became suddenly angry. He looked intently at her and then at Snape, who remained perfectly calm.

"If you'll excuse us, Severus?" Caesar said nodding at Snape, who didn't reply, and then he started walking downstairs, almost dragging Amanda behind him."

"Let go of my arm," Amanda ordered angrily, "you are hurting me."

"It's nothing compared to what I'm going to do to you, _my dear_," Caesar responded menacingly.

Amanda was so angry that before she could check herself she had send Caesar flying against the opposite wall without even moving a finger.

Snape came running downstairs in hearing the commotion. He looked very relieved when he saw the sickly noise of someone hitting a wall didn't mean that Caesar had hit Amanda, but the other way round.

He looked at Caesar's unconscious form on the floor and then at Amanda, frozen in place, her chest rising and falling rapidly while she failed miserably to control her temper.

Snape smiled to himself. He was feeling something he had never felt before: he was proud of someone else.

The Potions Master clicked his tongue three times and then descended the remaining steps to be level with Amanda. He looked at the beautiful woman in front of him and waited for her to turn to him. When she did, he arched an eyebrow mockingly at her and said:

"Temper, Miss Ming, temper."

That incensed Amanda even more. She lifted her right hand to slap him, but Snape had been ready for it, so he caught her wrist easily. She tried to hit him with her other hand and he caught it too. She was looking daggers at him when Snape did the last thing Amanda was expecting: he leaned over and kissed her passionately.

Amanda was too shocked to react at first, but soon enough she managed to free herself from Severu's grasp and push him away. Snape took a step behind, enjoying the sight in front of him. Amanda's beautiful face was flushed with indignation and her eyes were afire with hate. But she seemed unable to move. That gave Severus some courage. After all, Amanda seemed quite capable of dealing with a wizard without wands or weapons. She had just attacked Caesar, but for some reason she didn't seem ready to hurt Severus as well. He hoped that reason was that Amanda had enjoyed the kiss after all.

A grunt from the floor broke their silent battle as Severus and Amanda turned to look at Caesar's crumpled form.

Amanda descended the last steps to the landing and then said in a commanding tone:

"I'll wait for you in the kitchen, Caesar. I agree with you in one thing: we really need to talk."

She then turned and proceeded on her way, leaving behind her an interested Snape and a dizzy Caesar.

***

When Caesar finally joined her in the kitchen, Amanda was already on her second cup of white coffee, munching some buttered toast as if she was ripping someone's flesh with her teeth. She was annoyed that Caesar had dared menace her, but she was even angrier that Snape had dared kiss her, and she was even madder at herself for letting the man get out with it and... well, and for enjoying the kiss. She shook her head at herself. 'Amanda, take a grip on yourself, the man is a Death Eater!' she reprimanded herself silently.

"Amanda," Caesar said stiffly, sitting in front of her after kicking two house-elves -not daring kick Amanda, which is what he really wanted to do.

She nodded to acknowledge her presence, but went on munching her toast as bloodily as before.

"I don't know what you are playing at, Amanda," Caesar finally said. "You know I'm the best match for you. I'm a pureblood, rich, respectable..." Amanda grunted sceptically, "and I don't think you can complain about my looks, either."

Amanda rolled her eyes at Caesar's lack of modesty and started buttering another toast. "Caesar," she said in a motherly tone, as if he was a little child who couldn't understand things, "whatever you think, our relationship is over. O-v-e-r. Over. I made myself quite clear from the beginning. I told you that if you ever joined Voldemort I would break the engagement. You didn't care enough for me to take my warning seriously. Do you know why I really broke the engagement, Caesar? Have you ever wondered?"

"Because I joined the Dark Lord, you just said so yourself," Caesar said annoyed.

"No, Caesar," Amanda said sadly, "I left you because the moment you joined Voldemort I realised how little you cared for me, how little did my feelings matter to you. For you, I was just like a nice flowerpot. Something beautiful you were proud of showing around, not a person with feelings and ideas. For you, I was the ideal of a wife. A pureblood, a jilguerei. But beyond that, you didn't really see me. You never took the time to get to know me, Caesar. You have no idea who I am. And I'm not talking about my family here, I'm talking about _me the woman, _me_ Amanda." She paused, recovering her breath. "You never loved me Caesar. It took me too many years to realise, but when I did, I knew I could never live a lie. I'm not afraid of being alone for the rest of my life, Caesar. Rather alone than with someone who doesn't love me."_

Caesar was playing with some breadcrumbs on the table. He lifted his eyes to her and said in a heartbreaking tone:

"Please, Amanda, I know I didn't treat you as you deserved, but I really want this to work. Please, I'm begging you, give me another chance."

Amanda shook her head. "I'm sorry, Caesar, you've had more than ten years to make amends. It's too late now. I'm over you, and I'm not going to repeat the mistakes of my life over and over again. You had your chance, your _chances_, and you let them pass. It's time you moved on now, as I have done."

"Oh, yes, you've moved on to Snape, another Death Eater! How consequent of you!" Caesar mocked her.

Amanda raised her eyebrow. "There is nothing between Snape and me," she said, "it was just some snogging. I'm sure even you with your small empty brain can understand that women have their physical needs too. Snape is a very attractive man in many ways. Being in a house full of Death Eaters, I couldn't very well choose someone who wasn't one. At least, I chose the cleverest one."

Caesar, confident that Amanda was telling the truth about Snape, as his version of their little encounter the previous night matched hers, and seeing his more polite tone had failed him, decided to try again to intimidate her.

"Amanda, you know as well as I do that we are meant to be together. You'll be mine in the end, sooner or later."

Amanda snorted and then leaned in closer to him, their noses were almost touching. "Caesar, if you want war, you will have it. I'm not that little girl you impressed so easily years ago. I'm a strong woman now. And let me tell you something: I'm not going to chicken out."

After that, she stood swiftly from her chair and walked with a dignified step outside the kitchen and into the garden. Some fresh air would do her good.

***

It was already past midday when Amanda finally started walking back to the house. She had spent the morning outside, first just walking around, and then working in the garden for a bit. The warming sun and the exercise had helped her feel better. In fact, her conversation with Caesar had helped her too. The possibility of saying out loud that there was nothing between Snape and herself had made her feel strangely free. She wouldn't fool herself and thus she admitted she felt still attracted to the man, but now her conscience was clear, and she knew she would be able to resist him as long as he would leave her alone, which she was sure he would.

Now... if he decided he enjoyed toying with her and kissed her now and then... then Amanda knew very well she wouldn't stand a chance. She licked her dry lips once more. She had done it so many times that there was no way she could still feel his taste, but she kept on remembering it all the same, and she liked it very much. Oh, yes. She had been surprised when he had kissed her on the stairs. She had felt elated that he would want her, and mortified at the same time, for being so weak and letting him get his way without a fight. But she convinced herself he probably only wanted to pay her back for 'taking advantage of him' the previous night. They were square now.

She kept on walking slowly, lost in her thoughts about the previous night. How she had let her heart deceive her! She wanted so much to believe that Snape wasn't a Death Eater, that when she found him in Lucius' secret study she immediately jumped to the conclusion that Severus was Dumbledore's spy. And then, when she had heard Caesar and Pettigrew talking, she had deduced they were talking about him too, as if there weren't a thousand men Pettigrew could have been talking about.

If she hadn't been such a fool, if she had tried to analyse everything objectively, she would have realised that Snape might not be spying on Lucius, but trying to help him, as it had turned out to be. And she could have seen too that Pettigrew was referring to Lucius, and not to Snape. Then she would have had time enough to warn her aunt and now Lucius would be still imprisoned and not free again.

Amanda had to admit she had contradictory feelings on this subject too. On the one hand, she was worried that Lucius was free again -and maybe other Death Eaters too-, but on the other, she was happy he was back, not for himself -Amanda had never liked Lucius-, but for Narcissa and Draco.

The noise of crushing leaves startled Amanda, and she looked around just in time to see Snape striding purposefully in her direction. She thought of hiding, but it was too late, it was obvious that Snape had already seen her, and she didn't want him to think she feared him.

"Amanda," he said when he reached her, with a small nod of his head.

"Snape," she acknowledged, mimicking his nod.

Snape raised his eyebrow. "I see I'm not Severus anymore, maybe I should go back to calling you Miss Ming," he said silkily.

"I'd rather be called Amanda," she said tensely.

"Fine, I'd rather be called Severus, if you don't mind," he said. "But only by you."

Amanda tipped her head a little to the right, in sincere surprise.

"What an honour!" She said in an ironic tone.

Snape didn't answer. Amanda had no intention of starting a conversation with him, so she went on walking to the house. To her surprise, Snape matched his step to hers, so that they could walk back together.

They had been strolling along a sandy walk surrounded by high green trees for a while when Amanda couldn't help herself anymore. She was too curious by nature, that's why her primary animagus form was a cat.

"Were you going for a walk when we met?" She asked.

"No, I was looking for you," Snape admitted.

"Oh, and may I ask to what do I owe the honour?"

"Narcissa asked me to found you. The aurors have come and gone and we haven't seen you for a few hours now. She was worried. And lunch is almost ready too."

Amanda stopped in her tracks, annoyed. "Why didn't you tell me at once?"

Snape, who had stopped likewise and had turned to her, looked at her and said: "The pleasure of your company is a privilege I can rarely indulge in. I didn't want you to hurry back to the house."

Amanda was very shocked, and a little bit angry at Snape for mocking her, because that had to be what he was doing, there was no way the man could be serious. "You are not even talking to me!" She exclaimed annoyed.

"Why break the silence if there is nothing worth saying," Snape told her. "You didn't seem to feel uncomfortable before, when we read together in the library or had our coffee in the greenhouse. You didn't seem to need words then."

Amanda blushed a bit, although she wasn't sure why. "That was different. We had our minds engaged somehow else, but now we are just walking side by side."

"Am I to understand that you don't think while you talk?" Snape asked, sounding sincerely worried for her.

Amanda took a deep sigh and went on walking. She wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of retaliating.

They went on walking in silence for a little while. Suddenly the trees weren't so thick anymore and Malfoy Manor stood imposingly in front of them and yet a little bit far away, like a looming gigantic mouse trap, disguising with its creamy facade the darkness that awaited them inside.

This time it was Severus' turn to initiate a topic of conversation.

"You like gardening then?" He asked.

Amanda jumped a bit. She had been trying hard to calm her racing heartbeat and wasn't expecting Severus to talk again, at least not until they reached the house.

"What makes you think so?" She asked.

"I've seen you before studying the plants in the greenhouse, and I guess you have been spending the morning working with some plants or others, as you have fresh earth on your fingers and your face."

'Oh!' was all that Amanda could say. She stopped and reached out to her face, but only managed to smear it even more, since her fingers were dirty.

"Here," Snape said, "let me help you." He reached over and started taking the mud out of her face with his thumb. The feel of her skin was too much for him, though, and he surprised even himself when he realised he had been staring for a while into Amanda's eyes, both of them frozen in place, their eyes locked with each other's, their hearts probably beating at the same rapid pace. Slowly, he leaned over her and brushed his lips against hers. This time there was no hurry, no pressure, no surprise. They both forgot their misgivings and their fears of being hurt for a moment and just put all of their hearts in the caress. Little by little, they relaxed into each other's arms and closed their minds to any inopportune thought that might break the spell of the moment.

***

"Amanda!" Narcissa exclaimed delighted, approaching her as she entered the house.

"Narcissa, how is Lucius? Caesar told me they had rescued him," Amanda said, walking up to her with a contagious smile.

"Yes, he is fine. Almost completely recovered from the interrogations and the lack of food."

"What? They haven't given him food?" Amanda asked startled.

"Oh, yes, they have," Narcissa said, "but you know Lucius, he is used to the best cooking, his stomach wouldn't take in the food they gave him."

"Oh, I see," Amanda said, trying not to roll her eyes. Trust in Lucius to be snob even in prison.

"Didn't Severus find you?" Narcissa asked her. "I sent him to search for you more than three hours ago! I was starting to get worried."

Amanda put her most innocent face. "No, I haven't. I went to the roses garden at the end of your state. I was in need of a long walk and some solitude."

Narcissa sighed, looking at her worriedly. "I'm sorry I let you alone with Caesar, dear. I should have sent Draco to escort you around the house."

"That's ok," Amanda said, "we needed to talk, I hope he has got the message now."

"I'm afraid not," Narcissa said, "he tried to convince me to intercede for him. Help him seduce you again."

"And you said?" Amanda asked, tensing a bit.

Narcissa smiled and took Amanda's hand in hers. "I told him nobody could help him. It is his fault that he lost you in the first place."

"So..."

"So I won't help him," Narcissa finished. "He wasn't happy about that, I can tell you."

Amanda laughed a bit. "No need, I can imagine."

"Are you feeling better now? You look absolutely relaxed, you know? It's... I don't know... it's as if you were glowing. And your eyes are sparkling too. Any good news I've missed?"

Amanda cursed her bad luck for a moment. Narcissa knew her too well, she was bound to notice something.

"I did some serious thinking," Amanda said, "I'm relieved that I finally talked with Caesar, although it seems he wasn't listening too well. But now at least I've had the chance to make my position clear. If he chooses to go on deceiving himself, it's his fault. He can't blame me for not being sincere."

"No, he can't," Narcissa said fighting back laughter.

"And I was working with the roses too. They needed some attention," she said in a reprimanding tone.

Narcissa nodded, "I know. Since Lucius was captured I haven't had much heart to do anything. I'm afraid not only the roses will have missed my cares," she admitted.

"Don't worry, I'll work some more in the garden tomorrow," Amanda offered, "I really enjoy it, and as I guess Lucius is going to take much of your time in the following days, I'd rather not be too much in the house."

"I think that's an excellent idea," Narcissa said approvingly, "as long as you eat your meals."

Amanda laughed. "Don't worry, I will. I might take some sandwiches or a salad with me in the morning so that I can stay outside until the evening. The roses garden is so far away that if I have to come back for lunch I won't have much time to take care of the plants."

"Very well, as you wish."

"I think I'll go upstairs now, if you don't mind. I'm not used to the exercise anymore and I really want to take a shower and go early to bed."

"Sure, I have to go back to Lucius anyway. Just promise me you'll call the house-elves to bring you some food to your room before you go to sleep."

"Promised."

Both women walked together upstairs and then Amanda walked further up to her room. When she stepped inside, she threw herself in her bed, giggling like a silly girl. She was feeling guilty for letting a Death Eater make love to her. She was feeling guilty for wanting him to do it again. But Amanda hadn't the least intention of fighting destiny. If she had to repeat her mother's steps, so be it. At least, while she had Severus, she would be happy.

***

When he saw the light on Amanda's room was on, Snape walked back into the house and straight into the library. He took a book and adopted a bored pose, as if he had been there the whole afternoon.

It was lucky nobody came in and he didn't have to give explanations about where had he been the whole day or why he hadn't brought Amanda back for lunch. It would have been difficult to explain too why he was reading the book upside down.

The truth was he hadn't even realised, and he didn't care in the least. His mind was still outside, enjoying Amanda's company, her soft kisses, her bright smiles.

He had promised himself he would never get close to anyone. He didn't want to feel responsible for someone else's pain or death whenever the Dark Lord would discover him. But now he realised his promise had been made on a false base. It was easy for him to promise himself or anyone else that he would never fall in love when he had never been in love before. He really didn't know how strong that feeling could be. But now... Since the moment he had met Amanda, he had felt something new. He told himself it was only curiosity or admiration, but he now realised it had been the first signs of love. While he had been able to keep his distance, he knew he would be safe, but having her on his lap the previous night, with her arms around his neck and her lips on his... that had been too much.

He had gone in search of her following Narcissa's request, he had had no intention whatsoever of talking to her about his feelings or kissing her again, but when he had seen her, so beautiful, walking distractedly between the trees... How ironic that a girl would make him, Severus Snape, the iron man, loose control over himself like that.

He had had no hopes. True, she had kissed him first the previous night, but it was obvious she had suspected him to be a spy or something, and had only tried to protect him. Snape wasn't sure if she had kissed the man or the spy.

Today, though, in the gardens, Amanda had kissed him back, and that was a different matter altogether. She thought he was a Death Eater, and yet she had let him make love to her. Without promises, without empty words. And she had asked him to meet her again the following day, in the roses garden, just on the northwest limit of the Malfoy property.

Snape sighed. He knew Amanda would feel much better if she knew she had been right yesterday night. He was Dumbledore's spy, although he hadn't been spying on the Death Eaters when she had caught him. He had been playing his role as loyal follower of the Dark Lord. And he had also been trying to help a friend, if he could call Lucius 'friend'.

The risk was too high, though, and Snape knew he wouldn't tell her the truth unless it was strictly necessary. While he could have her, he wasn't going to speak. By doing so, he would not only endanger himself, but her too. No, unless he felt he could loose her, Severus would let Amanda think he was just another Death Eater, it would be better for both of them.

He closed his eyes and thought of how it had felt to have her and hold her in the cool grass, and his lips relaxed into a heartfelt smile, probably the first true one to brighten his face in a very long time.

*****

**Thanks for the reviews!**

Thanks all for reading and reviewing!

I wrote this chapter before I stopped updating for a time and I only made some small changes now, I hope you like it. Snape and Professor McGonagall's niece are the first couple in this story, but they won't be the last. :-)

**LyssasPen: Yes, Sirius can be tricky when he wants to. :-) I hope you enjoyed this chapter too. **

**hermionegreen: We'll go back to the training room in the next chapter, which should be up soon. What did you think of this chapter?**

**Kadi Rilla Wholi: Yes, sorry about that! I hope I'll be able to go on writing and updating regularly now. :-)**

**lool: Thanks! Here it is!**

**cyan: Thanks! Yes, I'll really try to update more often.**


	28. Sandrine Does What She Must Do

**Disclaimer: The characters that look familiar to you belong to J. K. Rowling. The ones you cannot find in any of her books are mine. I don't intend to make any money out of this. I'm just having some fun.**

Sandrine Does What She Must Do

Harry knew from experience that whenever you want time to slow down, it just flies. This time was no different. He wanted the fifteen minutes that Lupin had given them to last forever. He wanted Lupin and the rest to come back save and sound. He wanted this all to be a bad dream.

But wishes don't always come true, and it was only too soon for Harry when Padfoot turned back into a man and Sirius addressed them with a grim face:

"Well, it seems we have no other choice but to try and get out of this place. I've been here once before, but I'm not sure if the forest looks always the same or if it changes every time someone gets into the training room. I'll walk in front of you as a dog, trying to find my way out. I remember crossing a river the other day. It should be close to the exit. Keep your wands ready and follow me carefully."

Nobody spoke. Their throats seemed to have forgotten how to work properly.

Half an hour later, the group of lost teenagers were still walking behind the black dog. The forest seemed to be less thick where they were now, and they hoped that meant they were closer to the exit. They could hear the merry sound of running waters somewhere beyond the last trees. Until then they had made their way across a labyrinth of branches, but they had encountered no danger, as Yamiko had promised.

Padfoot started to run and disappeared beyond the high trees in front of them. Soon enough they heard him bark, and then Sirius' voice:

"Over hear, we've found the river."

"We?" Ron asked incredulously. "He did! We only followed."

Relieve flowed through their veins, and some people even let out a sigh or a nervous laugh. They were save. Well, that's what they thought...

When they reached the riverside, their temporary relieve disappeared.

"How are we going to cross that?" Lavender asked. "We would need a boat!"

"The waters are too fast, we would never make it to the other side in a boat," Seamus grunted.

"Ei, ei, ei... what's with you all? At least we have our wands. Last time I was here Lupin and I had to swim across the river, and it wasn't easy, believe me. I don't think I would have made it if it weren't because Padfoot is a great swimmer."

"Fine, but we can't all transform into dogs," Lee Jordan complained.

"No, but we can all _think_," Sirius retorted a little bit sharply. "Try to be positive and think in what you _can_ do, not in what you can't."

"Maybe we could conjure up a bridge," Luna proposed.

"We need some knowledge of civil engineering for that," Sirius objected, "if the river wasn't so wide I would risk it, but not in this case."

"Why not a hanging bridge made of ropes or something like that?" Ginny proposed.

Sirius looked at her mesmerised. "Good point, I think that might work." He walked a little bit further up the river looking for the right place. "Here!"

They all ran to him. Sirius was pointing at some low branches to their right.

"We could tie one side of Ginny's bridge to these branches and then to the branches on the other side."

"And how are we going to do that?" Michael Corner asked.

"I can cross the river as Padfoot." Nobody seemed too enthusiastic about the idea. "Come on!" Sirius tried to encourage them, "we can at least try it!" 

Harry was glad that all this mess had at least a positive side: his godfather seemed to be enjoying himself immensely. He was probably reliving his adventures of the good old times.

After much concentration and a lot more trying, Ginny, Cho, Parvati and Padma managed to thread the beginning of the rope bridge. It was a slow work, because they wanted the ropes to be thick and strong. Padfoot took the ends of the ropes in his mouth and jumped into the water. There were a couple of difficult spots were the waters run deep and fast and almost carried the dog away, but Padfoot finally managed to reach the other bank. 

After what seemed like an eternity, they finally had something like a bridge. Sirius tied one end of it to a couple of thick trees, and the older boys did the same on their side of the river.

"Now, start crossing, but one at a time, the bridge might not be strong enough to support two people at once!" Sirius shouted from the other side.

Luna, as the smallest, and thus, lightest, was the first to try the bridge. She walked carefully, but her feet got tangled nevertheless a couple of times in the ropes. After much worry and hope from everybody, she finally reached Sirius, who was so happy that hugged her as if she was his own daughter.

The rest of the group followed one by one, and they soon realised the bridge wouldn't support the weight of a bigger person, so Sirius and Luna helped support the bridge with magical light coming from their wands, and little by little the group on their side became bigger.

Ginny, Cho, Parvati and Padma, as the makers of the bridge, were holding it in place now for the rest of the people to cross it. Only Harry, Dean and Ron remained, when they heard the noise of crushing leaves, someone or something was approaching them at a quick pace, and it didn't sound like human steps.

"What now?" Ron muttered, his wand ready.

"Dean, go!" Harry ordered.

"No, we stand a better chance if we stay together," Dean objected.

"No, run to the other side. We might still make it in time, then we'll only have to get rid of the bridge. I hope the creature, whatever it is, won't be able to swim."

Without wasting any more time, Dean jumped onto the bridge and started crossing it as fast as he could without getting tangled in the ropes. On the other side, everybody was tense, trying to discern something between the thick trees. When Dean reached the middle of the bridge, Harry looked at Ron and they reached a silent agreement. They couldn't risk staying there, they had to go to the bridge. As one, both boys turned and sprinted to the bridge. Harry went first, then Ron. Sirius and the others were biting their lips nervously as they watched the bridge lower a few inches under the weight of the three boys.

"I can't hold the bridge much longer!" Padma shrieked as her right arm started to shake. In the blink of an eye the others had all joined the four girls, and the bridge seemed to stabilise. Dean was almost there and Harry had advanced a lot, but Ron was having problems. His big feet were getting tangled every step he took, he was never going to make it.

"There!" Luna shouted, pointing at the other side. Two enormous tigers were running to the bridge. With the shock, many people lost their concentration and the bridge gave way, falling into the cold waters. One side of the bridge was still tied to a couple of thick strong trees, but the other side was being carried away by the river. The water reached Dean, Harry and Ron's heads, and they were trapped in the ropes of the bridge, which made swimming even more difficult. To make matters worse, the magic of the broken spell had pulled Ginny, Cho and Lee into the water. The tigers jumped into the water and started swimming effortlessly towards Harry and Ron.

Everybody was frantic trying to get the people from the water and everything was a chaos. Some people tried to hex the tigers or at least stun them, but the spells seemed to rebound on their thick fur, nothing affected them. Sirius had jumped at once into the water as Padfoot and was holding Lee by his robes, trying to pull him to the riverside. Cho was holding on to a big rock in the middle of the river for dear life while the people from the riverside tried to reach her with ropes from their wands, but it was difficult to catch a rope with your hand when you were trying not to drown. And Ginny... Ginny was being carried away by the fast waters, unable to hold on to anything.

Harry took off his trainers and disentangled himself as best he could. He turned to Ron and his eyes rounded with dismay. Ron was definitely trapped.

"Ron!" He said, turning to his friend and starting to pull at the robes.

"No, Harry, the tigers are coming, save yourself!" Ron shouted.

Harry looked to his right and saw the beasts approaching. They would be there in an instant.

"No, I won't leave you here!" Harry shouted back.

"Harry, don't be thick," Ron said, "the wizarding world needs you, you are all that gives them hope, you must survive."

Harry didn't even deign to answer, he just busied himself with the fastidious ropes.

For a moment everyone's attention was riveted in a voice they all knew very well, Hermione was standing on the other side, shouting for someone to help Ginny, who was starting to drown. Neville and the Weasley twins were with her.

"Hermione!" Ron said to himself, and then turned to Harry. "What is she doing here?"

Harry was too horrified to answer. One of the tigers had noticed Ginny and had started swimming in her direction, probably thinking she was an easier prey. Hermione was trying to reach Ginny with conjured up ropes, but she was too far away. Then a rope coming out of nowhere finally reached Ginny. It was from Cho, who was still holding on to the rock. Not a very clever thing to do, since now the waters would probably carry them both to death.

The last thing Harry saw before the impressive head of the tiger blocked him from view was the other tiger grabbing Ginny with its teeth. He tried to punch the beast, but a hand stopped him in mid-air and the beast was there no more.

"What...?" Said Ron startled.

Where the tiger had stood a second ago, there was now a young bald man. 

"Hold still, I'm going to untie you," the tiger-boy said, and taking a knife out of his clothes, he put his head under the water and started cutting the ropes.

Harry turned immediately in Ginny's direction to see her holding on to the fur of the second tiger while the beast swam to the riverside.

Half an hour later, they were all save and sound, but still panting and definitely needing some explanations. Hermione was the one to speak first:

"These are Sakamoto and Jinichiro Sam, Yamiko and Samako's brothers. Yamiko asked them to help us find you."

"But where is she? Where is Lupin? Why didn't you come back immediately?" Sirius asked.

"We couldn't," Neville said, "when we reached the entry to the training room, we had to hide. Yamiko and Sandrine were there, talking with Death Eaters."

"What?" Many people asked at the same time.

Neville lifted his hands to make them listen. "It seems Lord Voldemort has sent a _representation_ of his followers to try and win the ashanriis over. Yamiko and Sandrine are on our side, but they can't show it, because officially, the ashanriis are remaining neutral. It seems they came while we were inside the training room. Sandrine found them searching the house with their wands out, although they said they were only looking for the owner. Mrs. Weasley was in the kitchen of Black Manor, what probably saved her life, because I doubt very much the Death Eaters would have let her alone if they had found out she was on her own. Sandrine told the Death Eaters to sit and wait and made sure they couldn't leave the room until she came back with Yamiko, that's why Yamiko didn't loose time coming back to us."

"Did the Death Eaters see you?"

"No," Hermione explained, "Yamiko has protected her house against intruders. The moment the Death Eaters approached it, her sister Samako and her brothers, Sakamoto and Jinichiro, knew there was something wrong at home and came immediately."

Here one of the boys, Sakamoto or Jinichiro, it was difficult to say since they both looked very much alike, went on with the story.

"When we apparated into our house, we heard voices and we knew that they didn't belong to welcomed guests, but our sisters were there already, so we waited for instructions. Samako told us to stay in the kitchen and we heard our eldest sister offer some tea to the visitors in the other room. It wasn't long until Sandrine came into the kitchen to get some cookies."

"When she saw us there," his brother went on, "she told us you were here and you needed to be warned not to leave the training room until the Death Eaters were gone. We went into the training room and found your friends waiting at the entrance, debating what to do. In the end we decided that Mr. Lupin would go to the kitchen and wait there with our sister Samako in case there was trouble, and we would come in search of you to warn you."

"And what do we do now?" Lavender asked.

"Now we wait," Hermione said. "Yamiko said she would send someone else for us when the Death Eaters are gone."

"I don't like that at all," Sirius complained. "Why wait here instead of going back to the house now and capturing them? How many of them have come anyway?"

"We heard at least seven," one of the boys said, "but we have to wait. They are not a match for my sisters in case things get nasty, and Sandrine insisted you had to stay here. I think she wanted to make sure the Death Eaters didn't see you."

"And there are the dragons," Luna commented.

"Yes," the other boy confirmed, "the dragons will attack too if they sense our sisters are in danger. And we can't harm the Death Eaters. We are supposed to remain neutral, at least officially. You would only cause trouble to my sisters if you tried to capture them."

Everybody turned gloomy for a while, each of them lost in their own thoughts, some of them happy to have escaped an encounter with Death Eaters and others regretting it.

***

Meanwhile Remus Lupin was making the most of his famous self-control and was waiting patiently in the kitchen, listening to the conversation going on in the room next to it. Molly Weasley had joined him, warned by Sandrine, and Samako, the youngest of the Sam's sisters, was there too, holding a long red whip in her right hand and looking out of the window.

The conversation in the other room had gone on for a while now. The Death Eaters were offering Yamiko the possibility of getting rid of the giants forever if she stopped protecting _certain_ people. Yamiko's placid voice carried to them easily:

"I'm sure your Master has much to offer, but not what I'm interested in. I want peace, can he give me that?"

Another woman answered her and a chill run down Lupin's back when he heard her voice. Without making noise, he took a piece of parchment and a quill from the table in front of them and wrote two words before showing them to the two women waiting at his side. Terror filled Molly Weasley's eyes for a moment before she closed them in a silent prayer, but Samako only shrugged. Apparently the name Bellatrix Lestrange didn't mean a thing to her.

"Of course he can! That's precisely the reason why we are here. Our Master doesn't want a war, he wants peace as much as you do, we all do. He could _convince_ the giants that they must not attack your people. He has some influence with them. You could live in peace for the rest of your days..."

"At the expense of many lives," Yamiko interrupted her, "of many _innocent_ lives." There was silence for a moment and then Yamiko went on speaking in a no-nonsense tone: "My people have defended themselves from the giants for centuries. As much as we would love to be sure they won't attack us again, we won't pay any price just to get that assurance."

There was a clatter of china on the table followed by a tense silence.

"Another cookie? I make them myself, the recipe has been in my family for centuries," Sandrine said in a pleasant voice, breaking the uncomfortable silence. Mrs. Weasley and Lupin exchanged curious glances. Samako went on looking outside the window.

After some munching, a male voice spoke: "They are delicious, Miss Aires, as yourself."

Molly Weasley felt her stomach clench, and only the importance of making no noise was stronger than her need to throw up.

Sandrine flashed an encouraging smile at the man under Yamiko's obviously reprimanding gaze, and from then on the conversation turned to Sandrine, Sandrine's beauty, Sandrine's marital status -mercifully single-, Sandrine's cooking abilities, Sandrine's perfection... until Bellatrix Lestrange stood in a sudden motion and the conversation came to an abrupt end.

Yamiko stood likewise, and although she was smaller than the other woman, there was no doubt she was the most powerful of the two, the Death Eaters could feel the magic radiating from her body, even from the tips of her hair, and they knew they'd have to go in peace if they wanted to leave at all.

"Thank you for your hospitality, Miss Sam," Lestrange said, and then added in a cryptic tone, "you'll hear from us again soon."

Yamiko chose to ignore the implied menace and bowed her head slightly before saying, "My house is always open to those who don't mean any harm to mine."

Yamiko and Sandrine escorted the unwanted guests to the door and stood watching in the threshold until they disapparated.

When they were alone, Sandrine immediately covered her ears with her hands and run to the kitchen, trying to escape Yamiko's fury, but her friend wasn't going to give up easily. Lupin, Mrs. Weasley and Samako heard her shout before Sandrine reached them.

"Sandrine, how dare you? You know how I hate it when you play with fire like that! Those men are insane! They are killers! We don't need them around courting you. What were you thinking?"

With the last words, Sandrine reached the kitchen and went to hide behind Samako's chair, still covering her ears. Yamiko came after her, her face white with anger, but Samako, as always, defended Sandrine.

"Yamiko, you can't expect a dansarine to behave like one of us, fuocciris. You know they don't have our physical strength and they must use other more _uncommon_ weapons to fight their enemies. Flirting could very well save Sandrine's life one day."

"Yes, it could," Sandrine dared speak, and to prove her point, she winked suggestively at Yamiko, but her friend's face told her she wasn't allowed to make fun out of the situation just yet, so she excused herself and run to her room, sure that, given some time, Samako would be able to calm her sister. Yamiko knew defeat when she saw it, so she contented herself with rolling her eyes while Samako, Lupin and Molly laughed at Sandrine's antics, glad that the danger had passed.

Sandrine needed time alone anyway. She wasn't sure if she had done the right thing or not, but she wanted to believe she had. She had waited for so long... who would have guessed that she would have doubts about killing Bellatrix Lestrange when she finally met her once more?

The woman didn't even know who she was.

She didn't know that Sandrine had witnessed how she had tortured the Longbottoms years ago.

She didn't know that Sandrine had saved her cousin Sirius' life.

She didn't know that Sandrine was a very powerful ashanrii although her fragile appearance leaded to think otherwise.

She didn't know that Sandrine had given her a very poisonous potion that afternoon.

She didn't know that Sandrine had debated with herself whether she had the right to take someone's life, she, who prided herself of being a good person.

She didn't know that Sandrine had made her decision when Bellatrix had finally spoken and the hatred that that voice evoked in her was stronger than her forgiveness.

She didn't know that Sandrine had poured then into Bellatrix's cup of tea a couple of mortal drops.

She didn't know that the poison would take a couple of days to take effect, just the time to erase any suspicion that the poison had been given to her in Yamiko's house.

She didn't know that the next time she spoke with the Dark Lord would be the last.

She didn't know that with every subtle tick of the clock, she was approaching death.

Sandrine closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She looked around her room in search of some consolation, of something that would assure her she had done the right thing in poisoning Lestrange. Her eyes didn't take long to find that assurance: Alice and Frank Longbottom were smiling at her from the photograph on her dressing table, where her own sister, Carol, was holding a fat rosy baby: Neville. And when she saw their smiling faces and remembered their shrieks as they were being tortured, Sandrine started crying, because she knew she had done the right thing, she knew that the Longbottom's wouldn't haunt her dreams anymore, she knew that she was crying for them for the last time.

*****

**Thanks for the reviews!**

Thanks all for reading and reviewing!

Another short update, sorry about that. I'm rewriting almost every line, changing my mind on how to go on with the story. There are so many possibilities!

As you see in this chapter, looks can be deceiving. None of the Death Eaters feared Sandrine for a moment, but she was the really dangerous one all of the time. :D

**Ally: I really try, I promise! :D I hope the waiting was worth it.**

**infernal kitsu:** Thanks, I hope you enjoyed the rest too. ;-)

**HarryGryffinGirl:** Thanks!

**Kadi Rilla Wholi: :-o Oh, there will be more 'mushy stuff' soon. :-)**

**hermionegreen: I agree with you, they would both feel better if they were certain they are on the same side. I might give them a hint. :D**

**LyssasPen:** I'm glad you liked it. What about Sandrine's 'uncommon weapons'?

**Piper of Locksley:** As soon as I could! :-)

**Annie Black:** Oh, dear, your questions will be answered in later chapters. If I were to answer them now, I would spoil the fun for you. Sandrine thanks you for your suggestion, Lupin wasn't available for comment. Thanks a lot for your praise. ;-)

**Makalani Astral:** I think that Sirius has proofed beyond a doubt that he is not easy to kill. :D

**Iniysa:** Well, here it is. I hope you enjoyed the chapter.

**Dauphin:** Thanks for your comments! I hope you went on reading. Please let me know if you spot tense or spelling problems in the story, I'd love to correct them.

**Lupin: Ah, here I am again. I really wanted to update sooner, but I'm at a difficult point of the story right now. I know the end, but there are so many ways of getting there that I'm finding it difficult to make up my mind. I'll try to update faster next time. And I hope you enjoyed the action in this chapter. ;-)**

**Mad-Eye Moody:** I really hope I'll be able to update sooner again. I'll really try. ;-)

**Allyrien Chantel de Montreve:** Thanks a lot! 


	29. Four Birthdays And A Full Moon

**Disclaimer: The characters that look familiar to you belong to J. K. Rowling. The ones you cannot find in any of her books are mine. I don't intend to make any money out of this. I'm just having some fun.**

Four Birthdays And A Full Moon

Sandrine smiled to herself as she walked back to Yamiko's house after a very well used shopping afternoon. She had told everybody that she had to go to work, but the truth was that the hospital owed her some days, because she had been working extra time during the last weeks. So she had really started her summer holidays a couple of days ago, and had used the time to buy presents and arrange surprises for the lots of birthday parties they would be celebrating this year.

Sandrine loved surprises. Even as a child she had never asked Father Christmas for presents, she preferred the old fat man to bring her whatever he thought would please her, and he usually made the right choice.

In her magical handbag, she had hidden not only Neville's and Harry's presents, but also Edvard's and Sirius', all of them reduced in size and weight. She had even found already something for Amanda, and her birthday wasn't until the end of August. She had also bought lots of sweets and chocolates for everybody, and was trying to decide whether their new friends would prefer a strawberry birthday-cake or a vanilla one when the soft rustle of the rice fields caught her attention. She turned right in a flash, her hands grabbing instinctively her handbag, as if it could protect her from harm. Her green eyes scanned the greenness, but there was nothing. And yet, the shoots had moved, and there was no wind at all.

Slowly, she turned again and started walking a little bit faster, trying not to turn back every few paces, wondering what kind of animal could be lurking so close to an often transited road. Transited, yes, and now completely empty save for herself. And nobody knew she was there, nobody was expecting her, and if something happened to her, nobody would miss her until a couple of days afterwards.

Sandrine closed her eyes for a second, her feet still walking very fast, barely touching the ground, not running yet though. She tried to forget those gruesome thoughts and concentrated instead in the birthday-cakes, trying to calm herself down. Maybe she should bake two cakes, and then everybody would like at least one of them. Yes, that's what she would do.

The noise came again. This time there was no mistaking it. Something or someone was hiding behind the high rice fields, following her, probably waiting for the right place or the right moment to attack her. Sandrine stopped, and looked around: no one in sight. How lucky!

She cleared her throat and steeled herself:

"Who's there?" she shouted.

No one answered, but the leaves moved again, almost in front of her.

"Who's there? Come out! I'm a dansarine, you don't scare me!" Sandrine thought that if there was a tiger or a bear behind those leaves, they wouldn't understand her and wouldn't mind if she was a dansarine or a muggle. But if her hunter would come out, at least she would know how to best defend herself. Should she transform? Into which animal? A phoenix, to fly away? What if the enemy was a dark wizard and blasted her with a wand? She had to be sure. She couldn't make a decision without knowing who or what she was facing.

"Come out, I say!" She shrieked, and regretted it immediately, because in front of her stood the thing that embodied all of her nightmares, and she knew what it wanted.

"I'm not the one you are looking for! I'm not her! Go away! Leave me alone!" She shrieked, and then transformed into a pegasus and flew away as fast as she could.

***

Amanda was working in the library of the Malfoys for a while. Since Severus and her had become lovers, she hadn't had much time for working, and she had to deliver something to her boss soon or she would be in trouble.

She decided it was time for a little break, and went to the kitchen. The house-elves greeted her politely and she smiled at them. They knew she liked making her own tea or coffee now and then, and thus didn't feel sad when they saw her start preparing a teapot. Instead they just went back to their other chores, until the loud crash made them turn.

The young Miss was on her knees, holding her left wrist with her right hand, and the green teapot that had been in the family for centuries was a little mount of cracked china. They hurried to her side.

"Is Miss hurt? Is Miss ill?" A worried elf asked.

Amanda swallowed and tried to sound reassuring. "No, no, I'm fine." She bit her lips and looked at the mess in the floor. "Sorry about the teapot."

"No, no, Miss must not be sorry. Miss must rest."

"I can't. Not now." Amanda said, as she stood resolutely, knowing what she had to do. She ran upstairs to her room, scribbled a fast note for Severus and another one for Narcissa, left both of them in the appropriate places, took a jacket and left the house as an eagle, flying faster than the wind itself.

***

"...so you have to be ready to jump, did you understand me Neville? Neville?" Lupin asked again, and then followed Neville's eyes, that seemed to be glued to a point in the sky.

Everybody looked up for a moment and stared as the beautiful pegasus almost lost balance when landing but managed to stand. Then they all gasped when the flying horse disappeared and a very shaky Sandrine stood in its place. She didn't even notice the people looking at her, but ran into Yamiko's house screaming her friend's name.

"Auntie Sandrine!" Neville cried, and started running after her, but Lupin caught him mid-step.

"Stay here, Neville," he said in a calm firm voice, and then, in a louder tone, added: "Everybody stay here. Harry, take my place and go on with the class. I'll be back in a moment."

Remus walked into the house and went straight to the kitchen, where he knew Yamiko was. He stopped in the doorway. Sandrine was crying in Yamiko's arms. Her friend looked very pale, too, and was caressing her hair, trying to calm her down.

"We'll have to talk with Amanda..." Yamiko started to say, but she hadn't even finished the sentence when Amanda herself appeared beside her.

"What happened?"

Before Yamiko or Sandrine could answer her, there was another interruption as Sha-adi and Samako appeared beside them too, looking worried.

"Sandrine!" Sha-adi exclaimed, and kneeled at her friend's side.

"She's ok," Yamiko finally said. Samako and Amanda let out their breaths, and waited for a better explanation.

"The time has come. Sandrine will have to fulfil her role soon. White Shadow has come to her today."

"But why?" Sha-adi asked, lifting her eyes to Yamiko while still holding Sandrine's hands in hers. "I'm sure there are a lot of dansarines out there that would willingly do it, why must it be her?"

"Sha-adi, you know why. Not everybody can bear the burden of the gift," Yamiko said patiently.

"Exactly!" her sister shouted in anger. "Only those who are born with it are to bear it, and Sandrine wasn't, so there must be a way out of this mess."

Yamiko was going to retaliate, but Amanda made them hush, and they immediately saw why: Remus Lupin was standing in the doorway, listening to everything they were saying.

Lupin had been listening transfixed, not knowing what was going on, but not liking the scene in front of him, and specially not liking Sandrine's tearstained face. Realising the girls' attention was on himself, he stepped forward:

"We saw Sandrine arrive, and I came in to see if she was ok and if I could help in any way."

"Thank you, Remus, you are very kind," Yamiko said, but Remus noticed he wasn't welcome, there was hostility in everybody's eyes, and he was surprised, because he hadn't realised he was doing something wrong.

"And you can be helpful too," Amanda added, trying to smile. "Sandrine has suffered a shock, and she must rest. Please, take her to her room and make her drink this," she said, and gave Remus a small vial full of white liquid that she took off the hem of her robes.

Lupin took the vial as if in a dream, and then took Sandrine in his arms and carried her upstairs. He could feel the stares of the four girls following his steps. Sandrine let him carry her, but didn't look at him nor said a word.

Lupin opened the door to Sandrine's room with his foot and let her lying on her bed. She moved for the first time and tried to dry her tears with her fingers. Lupin conjured up a handkerchief for her and busied himself uncorking the vial.

"Thanks," Sandrine said softly as he handed her the potion, and then swallowed the contents in one gulp. She laid her head again on the pillows and Lupin took her shoes off. She smiled at him, her eyes already sleepy, and signalled to a chair in front of a dressing table.

"Stay with me?" She asked feebly.

Remus nodded and smiled back at her. He moved the chair to the bedside and sat down, taking one of her hands in his.

"Try to get some sleep, I'll watch over you," Lupin said reassuringly.

And while Sandrine slept, Remus Lupin searched in vain in his head for an explanation, wondering who or what 'White Shadow' was.

***

There was a cool breeze coming in through the window, but it was still very hot. Ron's soft snores didn't help Harry sleep, so he finally decided to get outside, maybe back to the roof, where he had talked with Yamiko all those days ago. Maybe he would find her there again and at least would be able to talk to someone.

As Harry stepped onto the gables, he saw there was someone on the edge of the roof. He approached his sleepless friend and took a sit.

"Not able to sleep?" Harry asked.

"No," Neville said shrugging. "I'm not the only one, I see," he added with a smile.

Harry smiled back. "You know what?"

Neville shook his head.

"I've just realised I'm always awake the night of my birthday. I don't know why, but if I remember it right, I'm always awake at midnight." He turned to Neville. "What about you?"

"No," Neville said shaking his head again, "I usually sleep like a log until noon. It's the only day my grandma lets me sleep until late. But today..."

"You are worried about Sandrine?" Harry finished the sentence for him.

"Yes," Neville said sadly, "she is the only person who cares for me that still recognises me. I don't want anything bad to happen to her. I couldn't stand it."

"But she was ok this evening," Harry tried to reassure his friend. "You saw her chatting with Mrs. Weasley and Tonks. And Sirius talked to her too, and he said she looked fine."

"I know. It's just... not knowing what happened this morning. Why did she look so scared?"

Harry didn't answer. Instead, he looked to the stars in the sky, not really trying to read them, just enjoying their beauty.

They remained in silence for a while, until the distant sound of a bell broke the silence of the night.

"One..." Harry started counting.

"Two..." Neville counted with him.

"Three..." Harry felt like a very small child.

"Four..." Neville forgot all of his worries for a moment.

"Five..." They looked at each other and laughed.

"Six..." They laughed again.

"Seven..." Only five left!

"Eight..." They couldn't stop laughing.

"Nein..." Three left!

"Ten..." Harry was glad to have a friend at his side for a change.

"Eleven..." Neville thought he should probably try to stay awake the following year.

"Twelve!" They both laughed once more and then embraced each other.

"Happy Birthday, Harry!"

"Happy Birthday, Neville!"

"Shall we go to the kitchen and have a quick snack to celebrate our birthdays?" Neville suggested.

"Now you are reading my mind," Harry joked. "Let's go."

They went back into the house and down the stairs. Both houses, Black Manor and the Sams' house, were silent and dark, and the boys tiptoed, trying not to wake the others.

In the corridor leading to the Sams' kitchen, Harry thought he heard something, and stopped Neville, who turned surprised.

"Did you hear something?" Harry whispered.

"Yes," Neville replied innocently, "I guess we are not the only ones who enjoy a midnight snack now and then," he said grinning.

Harry relaxed and let go of Neville's arm. He was getting paranoid. Neville was probably right. The house was full of people. It could be anyone. Still, he took his wand, not wanting to take risks.

They walked into the kitchen and Harry realised immediately that there was something wrong. Neville seemed to notice too, because he had stopped abruptly. Harry saw the shadow of a wand raised at them and quickly dived under the kitchen table, taking Neville down with him.

There was a thundering noise and the kitchen was suddenly illuminated in a bright light, serpentines falling to the floor. Harry and Neville looked at each other nonplussed, and then looked in front of them. Lots of familiar faces were looking at them, holding back laughter.

"Happy Birthday!" Everybody shouted.

"Oh, no!" Harry grunted in disbelieve, but he was really happy. Neville was laughing so hard that he couldn't get from under the table and the Weasley twins had to help him.

Tonks whistled, and the other girls followed her lead. Harry's cheeks turned so red that they looked like they would explode any moment. Everybody was dressed in their best robes, whereas Neville and himself were wearing their pyjamas, and Harry's weren't exactly new. At least he didn't have a belly, like Neville. His friend didn't seem to care, though, and was laughing alongside everybody else.

"You'd better get dressed, dear," Yamiko said in a very audible whisper, "I might not be able to hold all of the girls back for long," and she winked at him.

Harry flew from the room, Sirius' barking laughter following him upstairs.

A moment later, he was downstairs again, fully dressed and looking much better, although his hair had refused to stay down. Neville came soon after him, dressed too.

"You!" Harry said, pointing his finger menacingly at Ron, who hid behind Hermione. "I thought you were asleep, and you were faking your snores all of the time!"

"Sorry mate," Fred said, "we couldn't risk you falling asleep and spoiling your own party."

Harry was going to speak again, but Sandrine's voice interrupted him:

"The candles! They have to blow the candles!"

Harry turned around and gaped at the two giant birthday-cakes that were standing on the kitchen table. They looked delicious.

"Remember to make a wish," Hermione told them.

Harry and Neville concentrated for a moment, and at the count of three blew as hard as they could.

Everybody started kissing their cheeks or slapping their backs to congratulate them.

"Lucky you didn't jump onto the table, Harry," George said trying to look serious.

Harry was going to start complaining again about everybody getting around him to pull his leg like that, but once more Sandrine didn't let him finish:

"Strawberry or Vanilla?" She asked with a dish on one hand and a very big knife in the other.

"Er..."

"Right, both it is then," Sandrine decided.

Harry grinned. "Ok, then."

After eating as much cake as they wanted - Sandrine's cakes didn't seem to diminish - Samako turned on a muggle CD player and people started dancing immediately in the centre of the room, while tiny coffee tables and chairs appeared close to the walls.

In a corner of the kitchen, Parvati, Padma, Lavender and Ginny were talking about their hostesses' dresses.

"They seem to have so many clothes," Padma was saying.

"Yes, and jewels too!" Lavender added. "Look at Yamiko's bracelet, isn't it beautiful? It looks like crystal."

"It's not hers," Parvati said, "it's Sandrine's, I saw her wearing it the other day. They probably lend each other every single thing, they must have the same size more or less. And they are very good friends."

"Yes," Ginny said, "they've been friends since they were children, Benjamin told me. His sister Amanda, the girl that came for lunch, is the same age as Sandrine. Yamiko is some years older. Benjamin told me that, when they were children, Yamiko was like their mother, or their teacher more like. But then, with the years, the difference in age isn't so noticeable anymore and they are more like sisters."

"Indeed, nobody would say that Yamiko is older than Sandrine. They must be what, twenty something?" Lavender asked.

Ginny smiled. "More like thirty something."

"What?" Padma and Parvati exclaimed at the same time. "Impossible!"

"Well, Sandrine is not thirty yet, I think, but she is very close. And Yamiko is definitely over thirty. She is ten years older than her sister Samako, and I think Samako is twenty-two or twenty-three, like Sha-adi."

Their gossips were interrupted by Yamiko herself, who came to offer them more drinks and to ask them why they weren't dancing.

"Oh, we were just chatting a bit," Lavender said, and then added. "You look amazing, Yamiko, and your bracelet is very beautiful."

Yamiko looked at her wrist and smiled. "Yes, it's a friendship token," she said, and left the try with the drinks to show them better the jewel. Close up, it didn't look like crystal.

"What is it made of?" Parvati asked. "It looks so fragile."

"Well, it's a magical combination really, like a potion left to dry. It's made of blood, sea water, tears and laughter, and it was solidified with fire."

The four girls looked at Yamiko in awe. That was definitely dark magic. Yamiko looked at each of them and then started laughing. The girls relaxed and laughed too, it was obvious she had been joking. When Yamiko left, Ginny went with her to help her a bit, and Lavender and Padma went back to comment on the robes and the dresses that people wore, but Parvati remained silent, thinking over Yamiko's words: a friendship token made of blood, sea water, tears, laughter and fire. She had read something about that somewhere, but couldn't remember where, and probably never would, because at that moment Yamiko's twin brothers and Benjamin Ming came to take them to the dance floor.

***

The sun was rising in the sky. Most people had already gone to bed, but there were still many of them in the kitchen. In a corner, Sandrine was surrounded by many of the girls who had come for Lupin's classes. They were giggling like mad. Sandrine was telling them about spells and tricks the ashanriis used to seduce men.

"So you could catch the attention of any man you wanted?" Angelina asked amazed.

"Why do you ask?" Ginny asked her in turn. "I thought you were going out with my brother Fred."

Angelina blushed a bit. "Well, I am. But I wish it hadn't taken him so many years to ask me out on a date."

They all laughed.

"Ok, let her talk," Lavender interrupted. "Come on, Sandrine, show us, why don't you?"

"Show you?" Sandrine asked, almost spilling her first cup of coffee of the day.

"Yes, please, please!" The girls chorused.

Sandrine hushed them. "Not so loud!" she told them, "if they are on their guard, I won't be able to do it."

They all remained silent, and started scanning the room for possible victims of their little play.

"So?" Lavender insisted.

"Ok, ok!" Sandrine laughed, "I'm trying to decide who to try it with, I wouldn't like Mr. Fletcher fallen at my feet, you know."

The girls looked at Mundungus Fletcher, who looked very drunk and chose that very moment to burp in a very disgusting way.

"No, not Mundungus," Anastasia conceded.

"What about my father?" Ginny suggested with a wicked grin.

"You are evil!" Sandrine said outraged. "Anyway the charm I was thinking of doesn't affect men who are already in love with someone else."

They all turned to look and Mr. Weasley, chatting amiably with Sirius and Lupin at the other side of the room, and holding his wife's hand under the table.

The girls sighed.

Hermione turned to Sandrine, but she interrupted her: "No, no friends of yours, they are too young, thank you very much."

"Well, there is not much to choose from, is there?" Hannah said. "All there's left is Bill and Charlie Weasley, and by the looks of it, they are not available anymore."

The girls turned to their left to see what she meant. Out of the kitchen window, they could see the oldest Weasley boys chatting with Sha-adi and Samako, or to say the truth, Sha-adi and Samako were chatting, and the boys were looking at them adoringly.

"Oh, well, my brothers have been staying at Sha-adi's flat since Black Manor moved here. My parents didn't want them to stay alone in The Burrow, and it's very tiring to come and go everyday." Ginny explained.

But Sandrine wasn't listening. She wouldn't have considered the Weasleys a good choice anyway. If she was going to flirt with someone, at least let it be someone she found attractive, and that left only two options: Sirius and Professor Lupin. Sandrine wasn't sure about Professor Lupin. She found him very handsome, but she was afraid of hurting his feelings. As a werewolf, he probably hadn't had many love affairs. Sirius, on the other hand, was the typical male that would make many women faint, although the girls were probably too young to realise it. The fact was that Sandrine didn't feel as attracted by Sirius, probably because she had always had a thing for shy guys, and Lupin looked much more her type.

Thus, while the girls around her were trying to guess which of the Weasley brothers was interested in each of the ashanriis, Sandrine decided she would try to catch Sirius' attention. She concentrated on him, looked at him intently, and willed him to look at her, but to no effect.

Sandrine frowned. Was she maybe loosing her touch? No man had been able to resist her so far, with or without the use of the charm. She studied him for a moment, wondering if Sirius could be in love with someone. If he was, maybe he wasn't aware himself, because Sirius wasn't the type to keep his feelings a secret. And then... Sandrine had to cover her mouth with her hands to avoid being seen gaping like that without apparent reason, although there was a reason, and a very good one. Sirius had risen from his chair and had approached Yamiko, who had just come back downstairs after taking her yawning but complaining sons to bed. She looked tired, but she started clearing the kitchen nonetheless. And that's when Sirius had risen, leaving Lupin with the Weasleys, and had gone to help her. There was nothing wrong or suspicious in that, but there was something in the way that Sirius looked at Yamiko, the way he had risen immediately to help her... Sandrine was very willing to bet her head that the infamous Sirius Black was in love with her friend Yamiko.

She smiled to herself, and then concentrated again in her task. Ok, Sirius was out of the question, so there was only Lupin left. Arthur and Molly Weasley were finally going to bed, and Lupin was left alone at their table, drinking some tea and reading something. Sandrine studied him for a moment, and wrestled back a sigh. He was very attractive, very much. She concentrated hard, willing him to look at her. And then he did, and Sandrine's stomach did a back-flip and she blushed. She tried to look in another direction, but she couldn't. Her eyes were locked with Lupin's. He frowned a bit, but then smiled. This time it was Sandrine's heart that reacted and started beating like mad inside her chest. She was sure everybody could hear it too, it sounded like a drum.

Lupin averted his eyes, and Sandrine came out of the trance. She blinked a couple of times and looked back at Lupin. He was talking with Edvard, who, in seeing him alone, had come to sit with him. For a moment both men looked at her, Sandrine averted her eyes, although she knew it was obvious she had been looking at them. She tuned on on what the girls were saying.

"Oh, well, I guess there is no one worthy of trying it, then..." Cho was saying in a disappointed tone. Sandrine only smiled.

***

If anyone had asked him, Harry would have sworn that there was nothing better than having your friends give you a surprise birthday party, but he soon realised how wrong he was. Oh, yes. Because the very next day, he had discovered there was something definitely much much better: preparing a surprise birthday party for a friend of yours.

Sandrine and Yamiko had enrolled him in preparing Sirius and Edvard's party, which would take place only three days afterwards. They had something in their favour: if Sirius or Edvard had thought of a birthday party before, they would have discarded the idea by now. Nobody in their right mind celebrated two birthday parties one after the other. Edvard probably expected some presents. Sirius probably didn't.

And while everybody was busy conspiring behind Edvard's and Sirius' backs, Michel was frantic about the result of his latest alteration to the Wolfsbane Potion. This time, he had made two different batches: one for his cousin Edvard and the other one for Lupin. The next full moon would also add another difficulty to his tests, since it would be the first time that Petit Loup -the name Sandrine had given Edvard in wolf form, which meant Little Wolf- met Moony. Michel was a little bit worried about their reaction to each other. Two male wolfs in the same room might not be a very good idea after all.

The following evening, when the full moon rose in the sky, Michel prayed to all the gods that at least the wolfs wouldn't try to kill each other. Edvard and Lupin had just vanished, and Petit Loup and Moony where standing little by little, weak from the transformation, but deadly all the same. Sandrine, Yamiko and Sirius were standing next to Michel. They were in the backyard of the Sams' house, outside the crystal prison that Michel had conjured up to keep the wolves isolated. 

Petit Loup seemed to recover first, and approached Moony to smell him. Moony did the same for a while, and then jumped onto Petit Loup. Outside the cage, the observers gasped, but relaxed again in seeing that Petit Loup and Moony weren't fighting, but playing like two puppies.

"Sirius, if you are ready..." Michel said.

Sirius nodded and transformed into Padfoot, then he went into the cage. Petit Loup waited in a corner, looking the big black dog up and down, but Moony ran to him as happy as a lark.

Yamiko, Sandrine and Michel smiled. 

"Well, it seems there is no danger. We'd better get in and make ourselves comfortable. There's nothing we can do now until the sun rises and Edvard and Lupin can tell me if they noticed any difference during the transformation or not. Do you have everything we need?"

The girls nodded. Yamiko transformed into a black panther and took a big bag that had been lying at her feet. She went in and started taking things out of the bag with her mouth: three chessboards, a small red ball, some plastic bones...

Michel was next. He didn't transform at first, but moved about the cage laying dishes with fresh water and food for the wolves, and some plates of cookies for them all. As Petit Loup and Moony could keep their human minds after the transformation, there was no danger at all. Still, it didn't help in the list to tempt the wolves with some human meat, thus, when he finished preparing everything, Michel transformed into a Cocker Spaniel with long soft hair and trotted to where the others where standing, looking at... The Cocker Spaniel stood frozen mid-step and barked his surprise. Trust in Sandrine to surprise them all. There, seating royally in the middle of the cage, there was a beautiful white wolf. Her fur was as white as the moon, and Michel doubted there were real wolves out there that resembled her, but it didn't matter at all. What mattered was that his sister had finally managed to transform into her fourth animal, one that would come in very useful in case they ever ran out of Wolfsbane.

Once she was sure she had everybody's attention, the white wolf stood and paraded for the other animals, as if they were in a fashion show. After giving a couple of slow turns around the cage, she approached the rest and settled herself to the side of one of the chessboards. Petit Loup sat immediately to her right and started licking her ears. The black panther, the Cocker Spaniel and the black dog were playing their own version of football with the red ball. Moony stood uncertain for a moment, wondering if he would be welcomed with the other wolves or not, until the white she-wolf raised her royal head to him and then turned it to her left, as if inviting him to lay down at her other side. That settled it. Moony and Petit Loup started a chess game while Sandrine took the opportunity to bath them both with her big pink tongue. She was like a mother she-wolf with her puppies. She licked their ears, their fur, between their big scary paws... The chess game was a mess. By the second licking, Petit Loup and Moony had completely forgotten what they were doing a moment ago, and relaxed under the loving care of their new companion.

During the night, the six animals played with each other, against each other, or just feasted and rested themselves, and when the morning came, Remus Lupin was happy for the first time that he was what he was, and bid Moony farewell until the next full moon.

***

August the 4th started as a very cloudy day. The clouds matched Sirius' mood perfectly. Since Harry's birthday he hadn't had much sleep, and he wasn't as young as he used to be anymore. He checked the alarm-clock on his bedside table, it pointed to 'Wake up already, I was going to wake you up in two minutes anyway.' Sirius rubbed his tired eyes for a moment, and when he looked again, the clock was pointing at 'Wake up already, I was going to wake you up in one minute anyway.' With a grunt, Sirius turned off the alarm of the clock and got out of bed. In the shower, he wondered if Sandrine had baked a cake for him too. Probably not. Nobody knew it was his birthday anyway. Well, Remus did, but he wasn't the type of friend that cares about those things. Remus was a loyal friend everyday, not one of those that only show up for birthdays.

The morning went as any other morning, what confirmed Sirius' suspicion that nobody knew it was his birthday. This very fact, on the other hand, raised Edvard's suspicion that there was something going on he didn't know about. It wasn't like Sandrine to forget his birthday - or anyone's, for that matter. For this reason, when lunch came and everybody gathered around the kitchen table, Edvard's was more or less ready for the surprises, Sirius wasn't at all.

The first surprise was seeing Amanda again. When she had come some days ago, she had only stayed for a couple of hours. Sirius had been in town then -buying Harry's present-, and hadn't had the chance to see her. Now she was walking up to him with a bright smile on her face. Sirius smiled back, but realised there was something wrong with his feelings there. The last time they had seen each other, Sirius' heart had beaten like a canon, but now, save for the initial surprise, it didn't react at all. Sirius kept inside a sad sigh. Maybe he was getting too old to fall in love. He still liked Amanda a lot, though, and she would always be a dear friend to him.

The second surprise was waiting for them in the kitchen. As Amanda walked there with Sirius in one arm and Edvard in the other, there was an ear-splitting roar of 'Happy Birthday!'

The third surprise was that the kitchen table was laid with the most mouth-watering dishes Sirius could think of.

The fourth surprise was that his chair -well, the chair where he usually sat since they had come to the Sams' place-, was almost cracking under a pyramid of presents that reached the ceiling. And then Sirius noticed that there was a very similar pyramid in Edvard's usual chair.

"Is it your birthday?" Edvard asked first.

"Yes," Sirius said grinning. "Yours too?"

"So it seems," Edvard answered, grinning too.

"That's why I liked you from the very beginning," Sirius joked.

"Me too," Edvard replied laughing.

"Well, I suggest you start opening presents already, dears," Molly Weasley said, "the food is getting cold."

It took them a surprisingly short time to open all the presents. Sirius tried to enjoy the meal, but there was a nasty thought inside of his head. Yamiko had bought him no present. True, he had gotten one from Gao and one from Yi, obviously bought by their mother, but he had expected something more personal from her. They had become good friends after all, or so he liked to think. After opening a mountain of presents, Sirius didn't care at all about the material value of the present, but was a little hurt to see that Yamiko had... what? forgotten? How could she have forgotten when she had bought the presents in her children's name and the party was taking place in her house? Maybe she didn't have time. That was probably it. Maybe she wanted to buy him something, but couldn't do it in time.

When everybody had eaten to bursting, Mrs. Weasley, Samako and Sha-adi started serving coffee and tea. Yamiko and Sandrine had been up all night cooking, and they were exhausted. With tea and coffee came the cake. And what a cake! It was a pyramid too, of cream mixed with lemon and apricot, with mint leaves and chocolate chunks here and there.

"I hope you like it," Amanda said. "It was a miracle it survived the trip from England."

Everybody looked with their mouths agape at the cake, and then at Amanda, and then back at the cake, until finally Luna managed to say "It's amazing!", and a round of approving grunts confirmed her opinion.

Yamiko cleared his throat and stood. "Well, I... Before the boys blow their candles, I want to give them my present. I didn't do it before because it was difficult to place them in the pyramids of presents, and, well... I'm not sure if Sirius and Edvard are going to like them and I didn't want to spoil the lunch for them," she finished, wriggling her hands.

Edvard and Sirius protested, saying that they would like it for sure and telling her she shouldn't have bothered anyway. Sirius felt suddenly much happier, though.

"Ok, Edvard's first," Yamiko said, and ran out of the room. She came back a second later, carrying a big flat square object wrapped in bright green paper. Edvard jumped from his chair eagerly and tore the paper into pieces, then he started laughing until tears fell from his eyes. It was obvious from the form of the object that it was a picture, a very big one, but nobody could see of what or who, until Edvard turned the picture to them, halting it above his head. Most people didn't understand where was the fun. The picture showed a white wolf licking her paws and wagging her tail lazily. It was a beautiful animal, but there was nothing funny about it. And then... the wolf suddenly disappeared and a very composed Sandrine stood in its place, painting her nails.

The people in the kitchen turned to Sandrine, and she wasn't there, in her place, there was the white wolf, looking proudly at them all.

"Do you like it?" Yamiko asked.

"Like it?" Edvard asked still smiling. "I _love_ it. Thank you so much, Yamiko," and he kissed her forehead. He turned again to look at her cousin's portrait, and then added: "You'll have to make a copy for Remus too." The comment was innocent enough, and nobody thought that it was more than that, a mere comment, but Remus and Sandrine's gazes locked once more for a moment until Lupin turned to look at the table, suddenly finding the pattern of the tablecloth very interesting.

"Well, and now it's Sirius' turn," Yamiko said, "and I'm very sorry to tell you this, but you have to come with me to see it."

Nobody seemed to be sorry to leave the table, though, only intrigued. They walked into Black Manor and stood behind Yamiko and Sirius, forming a wide semicircle. Yamiko squeezed Sirius' arm and whispered an encouraging "I hope I understood her right," before pushing him to the moth-beaten curtains that had covered his mother's shrieking portrait before. Only then did Sirius remember that Yamiko had promised to try and restore Mrs. Black's portrait when they had first arrived. With a shaking hand, he reached to part the curtains, which seemed to have been replaced by new ones. He tugged hard, trying to keep his expression blank to avoid hurting Yamiko's feelings, but what he saw made him freeze with his arms still in the air, holding the curtains, as if embracing the portrait.

People started to approach them to have a better look at the painting. One by one, their faces wrinkled in confusion. Who was that?

Only Remus recognised a very young Mrs. Black, smiling at them, honoured by so much expectation, and studying his son with a critical eye. She was the first to speak:

"Oh, dear! Sirius, you look so thin! I bet you are eating chocolate all day and never eat a decent meal in the whole day. How many times do I have to tell you, you must eat properly. If you would only listen to me and find a good wife, a girl from a good family, who would take care of you..."

The voice was unmistakable: that woman had to be Mrs. Black.

"I do eat, Mum, I promise. And I don't need a wife, we've talked it over a thousand times..." And indeed, it felt as if they had talked about it just the other day. It was as if time had stood still. This new Mrs. Black, being younger than the picture she was replacing, hadn't suffered yet the loose of two sons. She was strict, usually cold, and thoroughly addicted to the Dark Arts, but she wasn't as bitter yet, nor as unhappy.

"Well, we'll talk about it another time if you don't mind, Sirius. I was just preparing myself for my siesta. Please, do close the curtains now. Good afternoon everybody," she added looking around, and smiled at Yamiko before the curtains hid her completely from view.

"Well?" Yamiko asked nervously, looking into Sirius' eyes.

"You have no idea how much this means for me, Yamiko," Sirius said honestly.

"Does she resemble your mother?"

"Oh, yes, it's like having her back again, believe me," Sirius said. He hugged her and then planted a resounding kiss on top of her head before letting go.

"Well, I'm sure none of us wants Amanda's cake to go to waste, do we?" Sandrine asked.

That seemed to wake everybody up from their trances, and they happily started to file back to the kitchen. Sirius waited until they had all left, and then opened the curtains covering her mother's portrait ever so slightly.

"What do you want now?" The woman barked.

"Nothing, mum," Sirius said grinning, "I just wanted to know if you still put that green cucumber cream on your face when you go to sleep, and I see you do. Nice dreams."

As he closed the curtains again, Sirius could hear his mother mutter: "Insolent child!"

In the afternoon, almost everybody went outside to play in the backyard. The clouds guaranteed some shelter from the burning summer sun and there was a cool breeze. Samako had turned on the CD player again, but the music wasn't so loud this time. The coffee tables had returned once more, and in a corner of the kitchen, Sandrine, Amanda and Yamiko were getting updated on their latest news. Obviously, Amanda's were the most shocking ones.

"That's wonderful, Amanda!" Sandrine said sincerely, and hugged her.

Amanda turned to look at Yamiko, who was looking pale. She let go of Sandrine and put her hand over Yamiko's.

"I know you can't approve of him because of what he is, Yamiko. You know how I despise Death Eaters too. But he is... I don't know, different. Please, just give him a chance. Wait to judge him until you meet him, that's all I ask of you."

Yamiko licked her lips, trying to hold back the tears. "I know I'm being silly and... and overprotective..." The tears started to run down her cheeks. Sandrine moved to her other side and hugged her. "But I... you..." Yamiko took a deep breath, trying to calm herself. "You are like my little girls... and I feel responsible... after all you did..."

Sandrine kissed Yamiko's cheek before interrupting her: "Don't be silly, Miko, that was a long time ago, and you know if we had to, we would do it again. I appreciate your love for us, but you must get used to the idea that we are grownup independent women. And on top of that, we can't choose who we love better than anyone else."

Yamiko dried her tears with her hands, and when she had regained some of her usual self-control, she took Amanda's hand in her right one and Sandrine's in her left one.

"Sorry, but you know this is difficult for me," she said, "I'll need some time to get used to the idea of Amanda going out with a Death Eater, but I will, eventually." She took a deep breath. "If you are happy, then I'm happy for you."

Outside, Sirius was sitting down on a conjured up chair, drinking some butterbeer and chatting amiably with Remus and Edvard when Michel came from the kitchen with a very big smile on his face. Before he could speak, Edvard, who couldn't see his cousin's face, asked:

"What are they doing in there? This is probably going to be the best day of the summer, and they decide to stay indoors. Women!"

"That's what I wanted to ask them," Michel said grinning, "but I decided it was best not to, they were sharing important news."

"What news?" Edvard asked, and Remus and Sirius leaned forward so that Michel didn't need to shout for them to listen, they wanted to hear the gossip first, and then they would decide if it was worth spreading it or not.

"She's got a boyfriend," Michel whispered conspiratorially.

"What!" Edvard exclaimed amused. Sirius' mouth went very dry all of a sudden. Remus had stopped grinning too.

"Who?" Remus asked.

"Oh, I don't know, I couldn't hear it, didn't want to risk being caught eavesdropping," Michel said.

"No, I don't mean the man, I mean which of the girls is supposed to have a boyfriend?" Remus punctuated.

Edvard and Michel looked at Remus for a moment as if he had lost his mind. Sirius, on the other hand, felt like applauding Moony, he had immediately given for granted that it was Yamiko, but it could be Sandrine.

"Amanda, of course," Michel exclaimed outraged. "How could Sandrine or Yamiko find a boyfriend without us knowing it immediately? We live together!"

Remus breathed again, and then turned abruptly to Sirius, but his friend looked, if anything, relieved.

Samako, in a very well chosen moment, came to take the men to dance. Edvard and Michel joined her immediately, but Sirius and Remus excused themselves until they would finish their drinks. In reality, they wanted to talk, or at least Remus did.

"Sirius," he said, "are you ok?"

"Yes, oh yes," Sirius replied.

Remus chose to be blunt about the matter: "I thought you fancied Amanda."

Sirius turned to him amused. "You are worried about my heart being broken?"

"Well..."

"Well, it certainly might be, but not by Amanda," Sirius answered enigmatically.

"You fancy someone else now?" Remus asked, with a mixture of amusement and perplexity.

"A-ha."

"Who?" Remus was completely clueless.

Sirius leaned over to get closer to his friend and whispered: "Yamiko".

Remus shook his head in dismay. "I thought you might have grown out of the Casanova in you, but I see he's back."

"No," Sirius protested, "he is not."

"He is not?" Remus asked raising an eyebrow. "Not even a month ago you were in love with one girl and now you already fancy another?"

"Look, I was obviously wrong," Sirius tried to explain himself. "It had been a long time since I had come near a beautiful woman, and suddenly there I was: back from death and in the middle of a group of beauties. Amanda caught my fancy and I thought it was love, because it had been years since I had felt attracted to a woman, but then I met Yamiko, and I..."

"Yes?" Remus asked, wondering where this would end up.

"Well, if you want to know the truth, I didn't realise I was in love with Yamiko until Michel came here a couple of minutes ago saying '_she_ is got a boyfriend.' I've always felt comfortable around her, I find her very beautiful, I adore the kids, I like the house... I just never thought it was more than that. I thought it was friendship, Remus, gratefulness for saving us and taking care of us, but when a moment ago I thought I had lost her, I realised how much she means to me."

They both fell silent. Sirius took another sip of his butterbeer, and then turned to Remus.

"What about you?" He asked.

"What?" Remus tried to look clueless.

"Don't give me that look, Moony, I know you too well to let you fool me. I got the shock of my life when I thought Michel was referring to Yamiko, but it was _you_ who asked him for details."

"Just curious," Remus said sulkily.

Sirius bit his tongue for a moment, but the temptation to make fun of Remus was too strong. As if he was changing the subject radically, just talking about the weather, he commented:

"Sandrine makes a beautiful she-wolf. Moony looked positively ecstatic every time she licked his ears."

Remus rolled his eyes, and Sirius started to laugh. Remus shook his head and then started laughing too.

"Do you like her a lot, Moony?" Sirius asked, turning serious again.

"Good question," Remus said, "Moony is definitely mad about that sexy white she-wolf, but Remus Lupin knows he can't have Sandrine Aires."

"Why not?"

"Why not? You ask me why not?" Remus asked exasperated. "Sirius, you know what I am. There is no woman who can fall in love with a werewolf," Sirius was going to protest, but Remus raised his hand to stop him, "and even if there were one, what kind of man would I be if I let her get near me? Do you have an idea of how much she would have to suffer? All the prejudices, all the hate... it would turn to her too, Sirius. People would despise her for being with a werewolf. I can't allow that to happen, ever."

"Remus..."

"No," Remus said a little bit louder than intended, and some people turned to look their way.

"Oh-oh, I feel tension in the air," Amanda said from behind them. She had stepped outside the kitchen just in time to hear Remus' 'no'.

Remus and Sirius looked at each other, but none of them spoke, nor turned to look at her. Amanda wasn't going to give up so easily, though. She was a McGonagall after all.

"I've heard that werewolves and animagus who can turn into dogs make wonderful dance partners," she said with a wicked smile on her pretty face.

When none of the men replied, she decided it was time for some action. She took Sirius' hand and pulled. Sirius', surprised, didn't resist, and found himself standing in front of her.

"I think I'll have this dance with this gentleman," Amanda said playfully, "and then I'll come back for the other one... unless he is otherwise engaged..."

This time both Remus and Lupin turned to look in the direction Amanda was indicating. Yamiko was coming out of the house. She was wearing a thin jacket on top of her dress, and had undone the knot tying her hair, that now hung loose in a shiny black cascade down her back.

Remus looked surreptitiously at Sirius and saw his friend longing to go to her. Even if he preferred blondes, Remus had to admit that Yamiko looked breathtaking. He forgot immediately their little discussion, and decided to help Sirius out, but at the very last moment he changed his mind, and decided to make him suffer a little bit instead.

"It will be a pleasure to dance with you, Amanda," he said while rising, "I'll meet you in the dance-floor for the next song," he added, and then walked up to Yamiko and invited her to dance.

Sirius shot a murdering look at Lupin, but the werewolf just smiled back as he took his partner to the centre of the dancing group. Just then, to make matters worse, a very slow and romantic song started to play, and Lupin was dancing very close to Yamiko, with his hands too low for Sirius' liking.

When Sirius resigned himself to wait the three minutes that the song lasted and turned his attention back to Amanda, he found her smiling knowingly at him.

"I'm not trying to be flattering, but I do think that you would make a lovely couple," she said while Sirius leaded her around.

"I don't know what you mean," Sirius said with as much nerve as he could muster.

"Oh, yes, you do," Amanda insisted, "I mean you and that lovely woman you were looking at just now, who also happens to be like a sister to me... unless you were looking at Lupin, of course," Amanda added mockingly, "he really has a nice rear..."

"Amanda!" Sirius interrupted her, but couldn't help laughing. "Just shut up and dance please," he finally managed.

"Oh, how romantic!" Amanda exclaimed.

"You b..."

"Hush, Sirius! We are surrounded by children!"

Sirius gave up. Amanda was definitely a hard adversary.

***

They would have stayed up all night, but the stormy clouds finally fulfilled their menace, and a hard rain started to fall on their heads. By the time they got into the house, they were all soaked. After the laughter subsided, they realised suddenly how tired they were, and started to go to bed.

Sirius had been checking the wards on the house and was on his way to his room when he spotted Yamiko in front of his mother's portrait, talking to her. He sneaked closer to hear them better.

"...and remember to ground the camomile as best as you can, dear, because that's the trick, you know. My sons have never caught a bad flu in their lives, because I always make them drink a cup of it before going to bed."

"I'll bear it in mind, Mrs. Black, thanks a lot for your advice, good night," Yamiko said, and then closed the curtains that covered the portrait and turned to leave the house.

Sirius stepped in front of her, blocking her way. Yamiko looked startled for a moment.

"Why are you still up?" She asked.

"Checking the wards," Sirius said. "You?"

"I brought some dry towels so that Mrs. Weasley could distribute them, it's not good to go to bed soaked. Your mother kept me for a moment."

"She seems to like you a lot," Sirius said.

"Well, we talked a lot while I painted her, and I think she is grateful because I restored her to her place in your house."

"And in my heart," Sirius added.

Yamiko didn't know what to say to that.

"I don't think I've shown you yet how much it means to me," Sirius said, shaking his head in the portrait's direction.

Yamiko smiled, but her smile froze in place when she looked into Sirius' eyes. They were getting closer, really closer. She felt like rooted to the floor, unable to move or say anything. And then it happened, before she could react, his lips were on hers, and she had closed her eyes, lost in the kiss.

Their hearts were beating like drums in their chests, and if anybody had asked them, they would have sworn that the floor was shaking under their feet. When their faces finally separated, their eyes opened again. They had both had the most amazing feeling, and they couldn't even name it. Sirius smiled first, a little bit shyly, which probably was a first for him. Yamiko smiled back, blushing. They didn't know what to say. Sirius leaned down to kiss her again. Their lips were barely inches away, when the floor shook again. Their smiles faded at once. Yamiko paled, while Sirius straightened, trying to think beyond Yamiko's lips. The floor shook a third time, and now there was no mistaking it.

"Giants!" Yamiko shouted, and ran to the closest window. They were coming from the mountains, and they were closer than she liked it.

"Get the children and everybody else! Follow Sandrine to the shelter and wait for us there, my sister and me will take care of them. Run!"

Sirius stood frozen, until Yamiko jumped out of the window and turned into a magnificent dragon. Not even a second later, Sirius saw another dragon flying beside her. And then he tore his gaze from the window, and ran upstairs shouting like a madman to wake everybody up.

*****

**Thanks for the reviews!**

Thanks all for reading and reviewing!

I'm awfully sorry that it took me so long to update, and I ask you all for your forgiveness once again. :-(

Believe it or not, the story is coming to an end, only two or three chapters left!

This chapter is dedicated to **GNatGirl **for pestering me so that I would update the fic. Thanks! I really don't know how long it could have taken me if you hadn't made me realise it had been so long since I updated last. Where has the last month gone?

**LyssasPen: I know I probably shouldn't say so, but I like Sandrine a lot too. And isn't she a cute she-wolf? :D**

**angelwings6117:** Thanks a lot! I guess an author puts a little bit of himself or herself in all of his or her characters. It's unavoidable. The trick is to disguise them as much as possible. :D

**HermioneGreen: Thanks! I'm sorry I kept you waiting for so long. At least it's my longest chapter ever. :-)**

**HyperCaz:** Thanks a lot for your review and for your corrections. I'll go back and correct all of the chapters when I finish the fic. If you spot anything else, please let me know. ;-)

**Sabriel:** Wait until you see Yamiko in action. Although Sandrine is still cool. :D

**Kadi Rilla Wholi: I'm not sure about Bellatrix yet. I might need her for the sequel, so I might rescue her yet. It would be fun killing her a second time. Aren't I bad? :D**

**Allyrien Chantel de Montreve:** Yes, indeed, Sandrine can be very strong when she thinks she is doing the right thing, the question is: is she really doing the right thing? :-)

**Iniysa:** :D That's the trick, coming up with something you won't be expecting, that's why the tension in the training room finally led to nothing important. ;-) The giants are for real this time, though, I can tell you.

**toole:** Thanks a lot for your kind review. I hope you'll go on reading this fic, there are only a few chapters left anyway, and then... the sequel. ;-)

**Kitty The Black Ice Cat & Doom:** Your review made me laugh. :D Thanks! I'm really sorry, because you've probably been waiting longer than usual for this chapter, but at least it's long, isn't it?

**Michelle-Black16:** Thanks! There is more about Sirius in this chapter, I hope you enjoyed it. ;-)

**GNatGirl:** You are absolutely right about "run" and "ran", I've been more careful in this chapter and I'll correct it in the older ones when I finish the fic. As I said, thanks a lot for your messages. Don't worry, I'm in no way 'fishing for reviews', I was really busy and well, lost track of time. I'll try to finish the fic this month.

**Lady Siobhan:** Thanks a lot for your review. Physical endurance and team work will be critical in the sequel to this fic.

**shadowycat: I have the weird feeling that every time you caught up with this fic I stop updating for a while, in any case, I don't do it on purpose. :D Thanks a lot for your reviews. I think that in times of war people tend to live more day-by-day. Severus and Amanda won't have it easy, but they are both very strong. Nobody is going to know about Sandrine's poisoning Bellatrix, but some characters are going to see Sandrine do something as gruesome as that soon, and not all of them will like it.**


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